SACRAMENTO, CA — Between 9:00 am and noon March 5th, the California Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in three cases challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the statewide ballot initiative passed by California voters in November.Prop 8 amended California’s state constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, thereby overcoming the state Supreme Court’s May 2008 ruling that banning same-sex marriages violated the state constitution’s equal-protection clause. Prop 8 is the only initiative ever to change the California Constitution in a way that takes away a right only from a targeted minority group. The ballot measure passed by a slim majority of 52-percent.
The three cases to be heard are Strauss v. Horton, S168047; Tyler v. State of California, S168066, and City and County of San Francisco v. Horton S168078. All three were filed directly with the Supreme Court on November 5th, the day after the election that saw Prop 8’s passage.
On November 19th, the court agreed to hear the cases, denied a request to stay the operation of Prop 8 pending the court’s resolution of the cases, granted the motion of the proponents of Prop 8 to intervene in the action and established an expedited briefing schedule. On January 15th, 43 friend-of-the-court briefs urging the court to invalidate Prop 8 were filed, arguing that Prop 8 drastically alters the equal protection guarantee in California’s Constitution and that the rights of a minority cannot be eliminated by a simple majority vote. The supporters represent the gamut of California’s and the nation’s civil rights organizations and legal scholars, as well as California legislators, local governments, bar associations, business interests, labor unions and religious groups.
Briefing in the Supreme Court was completed January 21st.
In each of the cases, the court will hear arguments about only three issues:
1) Is Proposition 8 invalid because it constitutes a revision of, rather than an amendment to, the California Constitution?
2) Does Proposition 8 violate the separation of powers doctrine under the California Constitution?
3) If Proposition 8 is not unconstitutional, what is its effect, if any, on the marriages of same-sex couples performed before the adoption of Proposition 8?
To increase public access to the court session, the Supreme Court has designated the California Channel, a public affairs cable network, to provide a live TV broadcast of the session. For a list of cable companies that carry the network, see CalChannel.com/carriage.htm.
Under applicable court rules, the Supreme Court generally issues a written opinion within 90 days of the completion of oral arguments.
