MetaFilter posts tagged with California and Prop8

SCOTUS Hears Oral Arguments in Prop 8 Case

insectosaurus — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 09:54:56 -0800

Earlier today, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the California Prop 8 case, Hollingsworth v. Perry. SCOTUSblog has a round-up of their analysis of today's arguments here. NYT article. LA Times article. The full audio of today's arguments and an unofficial transcript are available on the Supreme Court website. For background information on the case, see SCOTUSblog's Perry page here. Previously.

CA Supreme Court: Proponents have standing to defend Prop 8

insectosaurus — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 10:48:09 -0800

This morning , the California Supreme Court announced that the proponents of Prop 8 have standing to defend it. The full decision is here (.pdf). Here is an outline of the issue. From the decision: As we shall explain, because the initiative process is specifically intended to enable the people to amend the state Constitution or to enact statutes when current government officials have declined to adopt (and often have publicly opposed) the measure in question, the voters who have successfully adopted an initiative measure may reasonably harbor a legitimate concern that the public officials who ordinarily defend a challenged state law in court may not, in the case of an initiative measure, always undertake such a defense with vigor or with the objectives and interests of those voters paramount in mind. As a consequence, California courts have routinely permitted the official proponents of an initiative to intervene or appear as real parties in interest to defend a challenged voter- approved initiative measure in order ―to guard the people‘s right to exercise initiative power . . . In this manner, the official proponents‘ general ability to appear and defend the state‘s interest in the validity of the initiative measure and to appeal a lower court judgment invalidating the measure serves to enhance both the fairness of the judicial process and the appearance of fairness of that process.

Happy, devoted, dearly in love

superquail — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 15:54:04 -0800

Ed Watson and Derence Kernek have been together for forty years (SLYT). Last summer, 78-year-old Ed Watson was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. His greatest fear is that he will "lose the ability to recognize [his] beloved Derence when he gets on his knee to propose." This is their heartbreaking plea to the California Supreme Court to rethink its refusal to expedite key Proposition 8 hearings.

The numbers behind H8

klangklangston — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 08:25:43 -0800

With a ruling scheduled today on Prop 8 — the California ballot measure that took away the right to marry from same-sex couples — Dave Fleischer has an in-depth analysis of all of the polling data on Prop 8, and his findings include some counter-intuitive numbers, like that the confusing wording actually ended up helping the No vote more than the Yes.

Closing Arguments in Prop 8 Trial

hippybear — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 08:58:48 -0800

A federal judge in California will hear closing arguments today in the landmark legal case that will determine the constitutionality of California's same-sex marriage ban , first approved by voters as Proposition 8 in November 2008. Previously. also Previously.

Among the questions Walker asked Olson and Boise to address in their closing arguments is whether voters who believe "genuinely but without evidence" in legitimate reasons for restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples are infringing on constitutional rights. The plaintiffs are also asked to provide evidence that recognizing same-sex marriages would reduce discrimination about gays and lesbians and provide benefits to the state. Walker asks Pugno and supporters of the marriage ban to provide concrete evidence that allowing same-sex weddings would harm the institution of marriage itself. He also asks, among other things, how banning the marriages would improve the chances of a child being raised by both a mom and dad given that the state already permits same-sex couples to adopt children.

MarriageTrial.com plans to post their reenactment of closing arguments as soon as transcripts are available, and wants to stream the ruling announcement live as soon as it is made. Related: Study shows voters not swayed on same-sex propositions by campaign rhetoric

Bringing Perry v. Schwarzenegger to the public in spite of the US Supreme Court

Blazecock Pileon — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:45:29 -0800

In its January 13, 2010 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the public broadcast of Perry v. Schwarzenegger, a U.S. District Court case challenging the constitutional validity of California's Proposition 8, despite the ruling of Judge Vaughn Walker. Working directly from court transcripts and first-hand accounts from bloggers who have been present at the trial, marriagetrial.com is re-enacting the trial, to provide a "non-biased, objective presentation" of the case for public benefit.

There are known unknowns

Blazecock Pileon — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 07:50:48 -0800

"My answer is, I don't know. I don't know." US District Court Judge Vaughn Walker asked Prop 8 supporters to define the nature and extent of damage done by same-sex couples to the institution of marriage, and being unable to get any definitive answer, denied the request from supporters of Prop 8 to throw out Perry v. Schwarzenegger and ordered the case to trial in January 2010.

Prop 8 Upheld

CaptApollo — Tue, 26 May 2009 10:07:49 -0800

Proposition 8 Upheld by CA Supreme Court. In crushing blow to marriage equality, the California Supreme Court has affirmed the validity of Proposition 8 today's ruling (PDF). Protests against the decision will be held in 96 cities. The court simultaneously decided that the estimated 18,000 same-sex marriages performed prior to the passage of Prop 8 will remain valid.

The Great Divorce

benzenedream — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 15:24:32 -0800

A new California proposition attempts to neutralize Prop 8 by substituting "domestic partnership" for "marriage" in state laws, thus leaving marriage to the Mormons and other interested parties. Getting the government out of marriage entirely has been proposed countless times before. (Previously: 1, 2, 3, 4)

Please don't divorce my papa and daddy.

desjardins — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 19:44:54 -0800

Please don't divorce us. An emotional argument for overturning Prop 8.

Coming to a town near you... Prop 8 Protests

Glibpaxman — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:14:56 -0800

Proposition 8. Saddened? Curious? Outraged? Happy? Dont Care? On Saturday, November 15 in every state across America and even in cities worldwide there will be a day of action. The response has been so overwhelming the website organizers needed to open up a sister website to handle to traffic overload. In many cases, police are being updated repeatedly by event coordinators with exponential expectations for attendees. A taste of the action: Alabama, California, Texas, Iowa, New York, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Washington DC, International