California's Prop 8 Overturned

[Weiser Wonder]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100804/...marriage_trial

Good. It was an obvious violation of the equal protection act. Not the end though. This will go all the way to the Supreme Court. Although I'm not sure how willing the SC will be to take the case.


For those that don't know, in 2008 California voters decided in favor of a ban of same sex marriage, which is known as "Prop 8."

[Nufy]

So it was Terminated ????????

[HeartsOfFire]

Arnie's not having much luck with the courts these days. Now all we need is for SCOTUS to uphold the 9th district court of appeals overturning of their stupid video game law and all will be right with the world.

[QuadCityImages]

Arnold was not exactly on the side of Prop 8. As it mentioned in the article...

[MelBridgeman]

That's great, but doesn't majority rule in a democracy?

[VladtheImpaler]

Arnie is a pretty liberal fellow. Not really surprising, but we'll see if the SC wants to weigh in...

[HeartsOfFire]

As governor, whether or not he agrees with it he has to sign it into law if the majority demand it, yes?

Or am I out to lunch?

[valo403]

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

That's great, but doesn't majority rule in a democracy?

Not a constiutional democracy, the constiution rules and this was found to be unconstiutional.

[J pold]

When you take a closer look you see that the Mormon Church was largely behind the creation and administration of prop 8. There is a 2010 documentary behind their involvement with the bill.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1484522/

[HeartsOfFire]

Originally Posted by valo403

Not a constiutional democracy, the constiution rules and this was found to be unconstiutional.

BUT in the U.S., unlike Canada, the courts cannot get involved in hypotheticals.

In order for a law to be ruled unconstitutional in ths U.S., it HAS to be written into law first and then brought to the courts on a challenge of constitutional grounds.

Or so my American girlfriend tells me.

[Russic]

Great news. I hope when my kid is my age he looks down on us for taking so long to get to this point (by "us" i'm referring to North America).

[valo403]

Originally Posted by HeartsOfFire

BUT in the U.S., unlike Canada, the courts cannot get involved in hypotheticals.

In order for a law to be ruled unconstitutional in ths U.S., it HAS to be written into law first and then brought to the courts on a challenge of constitutional grounds.

Or so my American girlfriend tells me.

Yep, that's correct. There has to be standing to bring a suit, which basically means there has to be a 'victim'. For something like this it's pretty easy to find that, but there are definitely constiutional issues that are left undecided as a case that fits the criteria to challenge a law might not come around for quite a while. There are means to stop a law, or parts thereof, before it becomes effective through injunctions (see the Arizona immigration law) but generally it will be applied to someone before the challenge is brought.

This is going to have a pretty big impact, not only in California but nationally as well. The ruling is pretty strong from what I've read of it, it basically tears apart any argument for being found valid and appears to say that Prop 8 faile da rational basis test, which is the easiest level for a law to pass. There's certainly a long way to go, but it's going to be a tough battle for people that support Prop 8. I mean the 2 lawyers who argued against it are the same 2 guys that faced off against each other in Bush v. Gore, so they're pretty much the best of the best.

[GirlySports]

That's gay!

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Russic

Great news. I hope when my kid is my age he looks down on us for taking so long to get to this point (by "us" i'm referring to North America).

in this one instance, Canada deserves to be separated from the US. gay marriage has been allowed nationwide for 5 years now, and we were only the 4th country in the world to do so. personally i hope your kid looks UP to us for acting as a world leader in fighting intolerance and promoting civil liberties

[Trojan97]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

That's gay!

Don't be such a fag.

[Barnes]

The way Prop 8 was worded was confusing and I wonder how many people voted Yes by mistake.

'Are you not in favour of gay marriage?'

Yes.. er.. No? What?

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by QuadCityImages

Arnold was not exactly on the side of Prop 8. As it mentioned in the article...

But wait....he's a Republican....doesn't that make him automatically against gay marraige and downright evil??

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Barnes

The way Prop 8 was worded was confusing and I wonder how many people voted Yes by mistake.

'Are you not in favour of gay marriage?'

Yes.. er.. No? What?

That crap happens way too often with referendums and propositions at the state level.

[Fozzie_DeBear]

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

That's great, but doesn't majority rule in a democracy?

Human Rights [should] trump Democracy

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by HeartsOfFire

As governor, whether or not he agrees with it he has to sign it into law if the majority demand it, yes?

Or am I out to lunch?

The governor has no say in a proposition or referendum.