AG (Jerry) Brown: Despite vote, same-sex marriages since May 15 will stay legal

[Newsjock]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

If voters approve a November ballot measure banning same-sex marriages in California, thousands of gay and lesbian weddings conducted since the state Supreme Court legalized the unions on May 15 will probably remain valid, Attorney General Jerry Brown said today.

The potential effect of Proposition 8 on existing same-sex marriages is already being debated among legal scholars and opposing sides in the Nov. 4 ballot measure campaign. Brown's position is significant because his office will represent the state in lawsuits over Prop. 8's validity and meaning if it passes.

... "I believe that marriages that have been entered into subsequent to the (May 15) Supreme Court opinion will be recognized by the California Supreme Court," Brown told The Chronicle. Noting that Prop. 8 is silent about retroactivity, he said, "I would think the court, in looking at the underlying equities, would most probably conclude that upholding the marriages performed in that interval (before the election) would be a just result."

Brown's legal filing was among a flurry of competing arguments submitted today to a Sacramento County Superior Court judge, who is scheduled to hold a hearing Thursday on challenges to the ballot materials that will be sent to California's 16 million registered voters.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/04/BA8P1250FN.DTL&tsp=1

[bluestateguy]

1. Wedding-related businesses could have a very good September and October

I am cautiously optimistic that this measure will fail. That's good, but it also sort of legitimizes the notion that civil rights are something that can be put up for popular vote. That is dangerous.

[BR_Parkway]

13. I can't beleive that no one is trying to get something passed to remove

Religious Freedom from the Constitution. Maybe then people would notice how dangerous it is for any group to ever have the power to take away another's rights

[Towlie]

2. So the shadow of Prop 8 should PROMOTE and INCREASE gay marriages in California over the summer.

I'll bet the conservatives weren't counting on that! It'll be a double sting to them if the proposition fails in November and they wind up with more gay marriages than they would have had otherwise.

[TechBear_Seattle]

9. Awful, ain't it?

Look, I've gotten all teary eyed.

:rofl:

[LynnTheDem]

3. Some people will have equal rights, while others will not.

Pretty much status quo there, then.

[lynnertic]

8. I've heard that this is groundwork for legalizing marriages

you can't give only some people equal rights. That's what killed the last miscegenation law some 30-odd years ago.

[JerseygirlCT]

12. Yup. There's just no sound legal reason to deny people

marriage equality. Any response comes down to prejudice.

I hope that either the CA SC or the federal one finds eventually that civil rights - including marriage - are not to be decided on by the majority. There's a reason we have the Bill of Rights before the others in the Constitution.

[Wabbajack_]

4. What a legal hornet's nest

[The Croquist]

11. I can't imagine otherwise

How can you pass a law and make it retroactive?

I can see stopping future marriages but you can't end an existing marriage because you changed a law at a latter date.

Just for clarification I am opposed to marriage discrimination on sexual orientation grounds. I do wish however that the government wasn't in the business of regulating marriage at all.

It's none of their business and dates back to a time when religion and government were intertwined.

[roody]

5. No on 8; no to hate.

[nolabels]

6. If they held a vote for this everyday i would show up and vote no every time.

This is more about freedom and keeping the government out of people's lives than anything. What the hell are the religious nut-jobs going to try and set up next, mandatory circumcision and chastity belts.

[trashcanistanista]

7. I don't think this will pass.

But thank god Jerry is on top if it in case for some reason it does.

[TechBear_Seattle]

10. There is a chance that it won't even come to a vote

It is theoretically possible -- not likely, but possible -- that the California courts could rule that, with marriage now recognized as a protected right, the current initiative is effectively dead and must be refiled to reflect the change of status.

[David Zephyr]

14. Jerry Brown. California's greatest governor and my favorite California politician ever.

But having been a Brown delegate in 1992, I am a little bit biased.

Jerry Brown!

K&R.