Prop 8 in Supreme Court on Thursday, March 5
Court to Hear Three Cases on Same-Sex Marriage in California
Mar 2, 2009
California has been playing ping pong with the definition of marriage for years now. It began in 2000, when Proposition 22 passed, thus defining marriage in the state of California as between a man and a woman only. Supporters of marriage equality worked for eight years to overturn the measure.
In 2004, the mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, issued marriage licenses to almost 4,000 same-sex couples. They were annulled by the state supreme court. In 2005, a bill was passed that would have legalized marriage for same-sex couples, but Gov. Schwarzenneger vetoed it.
Understanding that Proposition 22 might be overturned, conservatives worked to get a constitutional ban on marriage equality on the Nov. 4, 2009 ballot. Marriage equality advocates continued working through the courts to overturn Proposition 22. They were successful on May 15, 2008, and by June 17, California was issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Proposition 8
By November 4, approximately 18,000 marriages were granted to same-sex couples, including Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rosse, and George Takei (Sulu from Star Trek) and his partner Brad Altman. When Prop 8 passed, same-sex marriages were halted and licenses that were already issued were put in jeopardy.
Three Hearings on March 5, 2009
On November 5, 2008, three combinations of activists, legal organizations, and individuals filed lawsuits against Prop 8. The Supreme Court of California agreed to hear their cases on March 5, 2009. Each group will be required to respond to the following three questions:
- Is Proposition 8 invalid because it constitutes a revision of, rather than an amendment to, the California Constitution?
- Does Proposition 8 violate the separation-of-powers doctrine under the California Constitution?
- If Proposition 8 is not unconstitutional, what is its effect, if any, on the marriages of same-sex couples performed before the adoption of Proposition 8?
Who the Petitioners Are
The three cases heard are: Karen L. Strauss et. al. vs. Mark B. Horton, Robin Tyler et. al. vs. State of California et. al, and City and County of San Francisco vs. Mark B. Horton.
The Karen L. Strauss case was filed by three legal organizations: American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Lambda Legal. They filed a writ petition -- basically, a skip-to-the-front-of-the-line letter -- to the state supreme court, on behalf of six same-sex couples who were planning to marry after Nov. 4 and Equality California, an 11-year-old organization focused on advancing rights for LGBT citizens of California.
Robin Tyler et. al. involves one same-sex couple: Ms. Tyler and her partner Diane Olsen: they were the first same-sex couple to get married in LA county in June. Gloria Allred, a high profile feminist lawyer and radio personality, will be representing Tyler and Olsen on March 5.
The third case was filed by the city and county of San Francisco, Los Angeles county, and Santa Clara county. Terry Stewart will represent the San Francisco city and county.
Intervenor
An intervenor is a person or party who can jump into a case with the permission of the courts. This person or group is usually there to represent parties that are not being heard in a case that can/will potentially affect them. On Nov. 17, 2008, Dennis Hollingsworth, Gail J. Knight, Martin F. Gutierrez, Hak-Shin William Tam, Mark A. Jansson, and ProtectMarriage.com, requested permission to intervene in the Prop 8 cases. Dennis Hollingsworth, et. al. was the initial intervenor in all three cases, but was replaced by Ken Starr. He will represent Hollingsworth et al.
Another group that petitioned to intervene was denied: Campaign for California Families, a non-partisan group that "believes that the natural family needs respect and support, and that children need healthy roles models to have the best life possible," was denied its motion to intervene in the Strauss et al. cases.
