May 15, 2008

Gay marriage ruling

So the Supreme Court has made gay marriage legal in California, ruling that banning same sex marriage amounts to an unconstitutional discrimination against gay couples. The 4-3 ruling was written by Chief Justice Ron George and joined by Moreno, Werdeger and Kennard. The dissenters mostly argued that the majority was usurping the role of the Legislature and the people to make this decision and that the distinction between marriage and domestic partnerships did not amount to unlawful discrimination. Justice Corrigan, Schwarzenegger's sole appointee to the court, was among the dissenters. She wrote that while she supports gay marriage, she did not think it was within the court's power to overrule a vote of the people on the matter. And further, she said, she feared that doing so might lead to a backlash that would lock the gay marriage ban into the constitution, overturning today's ruling.

And that is exactly what might happen. A measure that appears to be headed for the November ballot would write the ban into the constitution. And with this ruling unleashing a wave of gay marriages, opponents of the practice are going to be mobilized like never before. Support for the ban, enacted in 2000, appeared to be waning in California before today. A ballot measure to legalize gay marriage might well have succeeded at some point in the next few years. But by stepping in and short-circuiting the political process, the court might in the end accomplish the opposite of its intention. It's possible the new ban will fail at the polls. But it will probably start out as an early favorite.

Read the full opinion here.

Posted by dweintraub on May 15, 2008 11:48 AM