Per CNN: The 18,000 marriages performed will stand, but Prop 8 has been upheld. This is pretty much what was expected. More to come.
Update [2009-5-26 13:13:7 by Charles Lemos]: Having determined that none of the constitutional challenges to the adoption of Proposition 8 have merit, we observe that if there is to be a change to the state constitutional rule embodied in that measure, it must “find its expression at the ballot box.” (In re Marriage Cases, supra, 43 Cal.4th 757, 884 (conc. & dis. opn. of Corrigan, J.); see also id. at pp. 861, 878 (conc. & dis. opn. of Baxter, J.).)
To the ballot boxes, we must go it seems.
Update Lucas: The Courage Campaign has stepped up and been an incredible hub for leadership and organizing on this issue throughout the state in the wake of the November vote. They were out of the gate within minutes pledging to bring the issue back to the ballot box in 2010 after members voted 82.5% to aim for 2010 instead of 2012. Courage Campaign will be going up with this ad in the next 72 hours to help set the stage for the upcoming battle. (Update: Contribute to help air the ad here.)
It's a simple premise: Separate but equal is not actually equal, and minority rights cannot be voted away by the majority. It'll just take a little longer than many might have hoped.
It will also be interesting to see how the 18,000 upheld marriages function going forward in this newly-created legal space where these particular marriages are legal but the underlying principle which allowed them has been revoked. It would presumably test at some point the full faith and credit clause and the scope of DOMA as these married couples head to other states and seek to be treated as married.
But for today, it's the beginning of the battle for 2010. Day of Decision events will be taking place throughout the state and around the country. And on Saturday, activists for equality from all over with gather in Fresno to Meet in the Middle 4 Equality. I'd encourage everyone to get involved if you can- this is going to be expensive, long, and ugly before it's all over.
Update Lucas: I'll add commentary and statements on the flip as I get them, starting now with Speaker Pelosi and some early analysis from Calitics.
Statement from Speaker Pelosi:
"Today's ruling by the Supreme Court in support of Proposition 8 is deeply disappointing because this ballot initiative takes away individual rights. "I have long fought for equality for all of California's families and will strongly support efforts to restore marriage equality in California, so it can join the ranks of states such as Iowa and Vermont."
David Dayen and Robert Cruickshank are trading off at Calitics where Robert notes:
The decision is about as bad as it can get - the logic used to uphold Prop 8 is everything Ken Starr hoped it would be. Two key excerpts:
Contrary to petitioners' assertion, Proposition 8 does not entirely repeal or abrogate the aspect of a same-sex couple's state constitutional right of privacy and due process that was analyzed in the majority opinion in the Marriage Cases - that is, the constitutional right of same-sex couples to "choose one's life partner and enter with that person into a committed, officially recognized, and protected family relationship that enjoys all of the constitutionally based incidents of marriage" (Marriage Cases, supra, 43 Cal.4th at p. 829). Nor does Proposition 8 fundamentally alter the meaning and substance of state constitutional equal protection principles as articulated in that opinion. Instead, the measure carves out a narrow and limited exception to these state constitutional rights, reserving the official designation of the term "marriage" for the union of opposite-sex couples as a matter of state constitutional law, but leaving undisturbed all of the other extremely significant substantive aspects of a same-sex couple's state constitutional right to establish an officially recognized and protected family relationship and the guarantee of equal protection of the laws.
And the clear embrace of the Starr Doctrine:
Neither the language of the relevant constitutional provisions, nor our past cases, support the proposition that any of these rights is totally exempt from modification by a constitutional amendment adopted by a majority of the voters through the initiative process.
To the CA Supreme Court, voters can do whatever the fuck they want to via the initiative process.
CA is officially broken.
Update Lucas: Also at Calitics, Brian Devine notes that the Supreme Court created new law with this ruling:
Justice Werdegar, however, at least had the guts to call a spade a spade. She didn't hide behind the majority's false argument that California's law on revision/amendment distinction has always supported the decision to uphold Prop 8. Instead, she wrote her own concurring opinion specifically to point out what the majority hides: that the California Supreme Court had to make new law in order to reach its result of upholding Prop 8:
until today the court has gone only so far as to say that “a qualitative revision includes one that involves a change in the basic plan of California government, i.e., a change in its fundamental structure or the foundational powers of its branches.” (Legislature v. Eu, supra, at p. 509, italics added.) Today, the majority changes “includes” to “is,” thus foreclosing other possibilities.
* * *
The history of our California Constitution belies any suggestion that the drafters envisioned or would have approved a rule, such as that announced today, that affords governmental structure and organization more protection from casual amendment than civil liberties.
This is judicial activism. Today, the Supreme Court significantly narrowed the definition of what is a "revision" that has been California law since the 1894 case of Livermore v. Waite. They invented a new definition only because it would suit the result they wanted.
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