[Vision2020] 9th Circuit Rules Gay Marriages to Stay on Hold in California During Appeals Process: Proposition 8 Headed Towards High Court"?

[Ted Moffett]

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/ninth-circuit-court-appeals-puts-gay-marriage-hold/story?id=11414501&page=2
Proposition
8 Headed Towards High Court
The effort to ban gay marriage in California was first launched in response
to a state Supreme Court
decision<http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=4866721&page=1>allowing
same-sex couples to wed. Voters approved Proposition 8 with a 52
percent vote.

Despite the popular support, Walker found that the measure was rooted in
"unfounded stereotypes and prejudices" and that the
plaintiffs<http://abcnews.go.com/WN/gay-rights-groups-seek-overturn-proposition-californias-ban/story?id=9531747>in
the case -- one lesbian and one gay couple -- demonstrated by
"overwhelming evidence" that it violates rights to due process and equal
protection under the Constitution.

"Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men
and lesbians for denial of a marriage license," Walker wrote in his 136-page
opinion. "Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than
enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples
are superior to same-sex couples.

"Moral disapproval alone is an improper basis on which to deny rights to gay
men and lesbians," he wrote. "The evidence shows conclusively that
Proposition 8 enacts, without reason, a private moral view that same-sex
couples are inferior to opposite-sex couples."

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will now take up the case, which could
ultimately reach the U.S. Supreme Court. Experts say a decision there could
transform social and legal precedent, comparing the potential impact to the
famous 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, which desegregated
schools, and the 1967 Loving v. Virginia decision, which ended laws banning
interracial marriage.

"This case reflects a classic tension between democratic values," said Ben
Bishin, a political science professor at University of California-Riverside.
"People often think that democracy means the will of a majority should be
law, but its also about equality and liberty. Questions of minority rights
speak to values of equality and liberty, and courts are reluctant to tread
on those rights when there's no harm done to society."

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Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
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