Calif. Supreme Court upholds right of voters to amend constitution, protect marriage

SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court ruled Tuesday to recognize the votes of more than 7 million Californians and uphold the state constitutional amendment which affirmed marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Advocates for redefining marriage filed suit last November, challenging the constitutionality of the amendment and again asking the court to forcibly redefine marriage in the Golden State in defiance of the fundamental right of Californians to amend their state constitution.

“In America, we respect the results of fair elections. The California Supreme Court arrived at the only correct conclusion available: the people of California have a fundamental right to amend their own constitution,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Austin R. Nimocks. “This is the second time California has voted to protect marriage. Once again, when marriage goes before the voters, they affirm that marriage means one man and one woman. All 30 states that have voted on whether to affirm marriage as one man and one woman in their state constitutions have done so.”

Last November when lawsuits were filed against Proposition 8, the high court ruled that it would not temporarily suspend implementation of the amendment and granted a motion by defenders of the amendment, led by ADF-allied attorney Andrew Pugno, to intervene in the lawsuit Strauss v. Horton. ADF attorneys submitted a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of the Family Research Council in January to defend California’s marriage amendment, arguing that the authority to amend the state’s constitution rests with the people, who already legitimately approved Proposition 8 in November.

Multiple lawsuits filed with the high court--including Strauss v. Horton, Tyler v. State of California, and City of San Francisco v. Horton--challenged the legitimacy of amending the constitution to restore the definition of marriage used throughout the history of the state. Although the court upheld the constitutional amendment, it allowed the existing licenses issued to same-sex partners to stand.

“By allowing the previously-issued same-sex ‘marriage’ licenses to remain valid, the court is perpetuating the problem that it itself created. And it’s doing this despite the clear vote of the people that marriage means one man and one woman and that anything outside of that is not marriage,” Nimocks said.

ADF attorneys were involved in defending Proposition 8 from attack prior to last year’s election and also defended California’s Defense of Marriage Act, Proposition 22, before it was struck down by the California Supreme Court in May 2008. According to U.S. Census Bureau statistics, same-sex partners represent only 0.5 percent of the total population of California.

• Opinion issued by the California Supreme Court in Strauss v. Horton

ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.

www.telladf.org              www.domawatch.org

Print This Page