Major Human Rights Victory: California’s Prop 8 Ruled Unconstitutional

California has long been considered one of the most liberal states in the country due to the very powerful influence of left-leaning Hollywood, the state’s position on marijuana, liberal bastions like San Francisco, and more. Yet this reputation took a severe hit when Proposition 8 was passed on November 4, 2008.

Prop 8, officially titled “Eliminates Rights of Same-Sex Couples to Marry. Initiative Constitutional Amendment,” was a ballot initiative that sought to change the California Constitution to add a new section to Article I that would read, “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”

February 7th saw California's Prop 8 struck down as unconstitutional. | Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

As a resident of California, I can attest to this measure’s overwhelming presence in 2008. All throughout the summer, there were countless attempts to have Prop 8 removed from the ballot on the grounds that it was a constitutional revision, which can only be put before voters by legislators or a constitutional convention. These efforts were all for naught as, in the end, the cases were dismissed and the measure remained on the ballot.

When I returned to school that September, coverage of the issue had intensified. Support for Prop 8 poured in from Republican dignitaries like Arizona Senator and then-presidential candidate John McCain, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and others. California Democrats such as then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi and San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, as well as soon-to-be President Elect Obama voiced opposition to the measure.

The atmosphere surrounding the proposition was filled with a definite religious presence as well. The Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints both publicly supported Prop 8, while all six Episcopal diocesan bishops in California and numerous Jewish groups staunchly opposed it. According to the exit polls, it was clear that those who described themselves as religious were those most in favor of Prop 8.

The final vote showed 52.24% in favor of and 47.76% against Prop 8. Of California’s 58 counties, 42 voted in favor of Prop 8, including–rather surprisingly–Los Angeles County, albeit by the slimmest of margins: 50.1% to 49.9%. Counties in favor were spread throughout the state, while those against tended to be along the coasts and surrounding the Bay Area. San Francisco County was by far most opposed to Prop 8, voting 75.2% against it.

Prop 8's opposition was limited when it came to the number of counties. | Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Immediately after the results were released, mass protests took place across California, including a large gathering outside an LDS Temple in Westwood (Los Angeles) and a candlelight vigil in front of Sacramento’s Gay and Lesbian Center.

Multiple lawsuits following the vote were consolidated into Strauss v. Horton, which saw the court rule that Prop 8 was valid as voted. Resulting from this was another suit, Perry v. Schwarzenegger (now Perry v. Brown), filed in a Federal District Court in San Francisco. The plaintiff, Kristin Perry, and her partner were denied a marriage license by the Alameda County clerk-registrar because they were a same-sex couple. Perry and her partner, along with a male couple from Los Angeles that had similarly been denied a license, joined together to sue their respective county clerks, then-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Attorney General Jerry Brown, and two officials in the Department of Public Health.

Chief Judge Vaughn Walker heard closing arguments on June 16, 2010. Less than two months later, on August 4, he announced his ruling in favor of the plaintiffs, overturning Prop 8 based on the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment. What’s more, Judge Walker asserted that California had no rational basis or vested interest in denying gays and lesbians marriage licenses:

“When challenged, however, the voters’ determinations must find at least some support in evidence. This is especially so when those determinations enact into law classifications of persons. Conjecture, speculation and fears are not enough. Still less will the moral disapprobation of a group or class of citizens suffice, no matter how large the majority that shares that view. The evidence demonstrated beyond serious reckoning that Proposition 8 finds support only in such disapproval. As such, Proposition 8 is beyond the constitutional reach of the voters or their representatives.”

Judge Walker further noted that Prop 8 was drafted based on traditional moral disapproval of homosexuality, which is not a legal basis for discrimination.

Appeals were almost immediately made and eventually scheduled to be heard by Judges Stephen Reinhardt, Michael Hawkins, and N. Randy Smith. Oral arguments were heard on December 6, 2010 and, after delays regarding the validity of the appeals throughout 2011, a ruling was issued on February 7 of this year. The panel ruled 2-1 in favor of the plaintiffs, affirming Judge Walker’s decision and again deeming Prop 8 unconstitutional. Judge Reinhardt authored the majority opinion, which included the following:

“Proposition 8 therefore could not have been enacted to advance California’s interests in childrearing or possible procreation, for it had no effect on the rights of same-sex couples to raise children or on the procreative practices of other couples. Nor did Proposition 8 have any effect on religious freedom or on parents’ rights to control their children’s education; it could not have been enacted to safeguard these liberties…Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples.”

The decision may be reheard within 14 days, by a full bench of judges, if a majority of all the active judges in the Ninth Circuit vote to rehear it. Also, the legal teams who argued for Prop 8 have 90 days to directly appeal to the Supreme Court.

Regardless, the feeling at the moment is one dominated by jubilation, relief, and celebration. Dozens of celebrities, including Ellen DeGeneres and Rosie O’Donnell, have expressed satisfaction while gays, lesbians, and heterosexuals alike have joined together to celebrate.

Read Judge Reinhardt’s entire ruling here

About Ross Ballantyne

Ross- CAS '15 - is currently a political science major. Originally from Scotland, he has lived in the U.S. since the tender age of 3 1/2. Ross' interests, aside from politics, include The Smiths, soccer, French literature, travel, classic British films, and existentialism.

View all posts by Ross Ballantyne →

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