Two New Briefs, In Support Of Proposition 8, Submitted To Appeals Court

Two New Briefs, In Support Of Proposition 8, Submitted To Appeals Court

The original proponents of Proposition 8, and Imperial County, have submitted new briefs to the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals. These briefs again urge the appeals court to overturn a lower court order which invalidated Proposition 8.

This Newsflash will give you an overview of the points made in those briefs. At the end of this Newsflash we provide you a link to the actual documents so you can read them in greater detail.

The brief from the original proponents of Proposition 8 says that the longstanding, express purpose, of marriage has been to channel " potentially procreative sexual relationships into enduring, stable unions for the sake of responsibly producing and raising the next generation".

This, of course, ignores the fact that marriage can still serve this purpose for opposite sex couples who choose to marry. Allowing same sex couples to marry in no way prevents opposite sex couples from receiving this beneficial effect from marrying.

They go on to say, those who oppose Proposition 8 define marriage as "a couple's choice to live with each other, to remain committed to one another, and to form a household based on their own feelings about one another, and their agreement to join in an economic partnership and support one another in terms of the material needs of life." They add that same sex couples want to get state recognition of their marriage. That probably is a good description of why many same sex couples want to marry.

However, more and more same sex couples have children, some from a previous heterosexual relationship of one of the couples. In other cases, they chose to have children through artificial insemination. Still others adopt children. For them, marriage is a way of "responsibly producing and raising the next generation".

The brief goes on to contend that the appeals court should uphold Proposition 8 because "every appellate court, both state and federal, to address the validity of traditional opposite-sex marriage laws under the United States Constitution has upheld them as rationally related to the state's interest in responsible procreation and child-rearing".

In making this point, they ignore the fact that courts do change their opinions over time. For example, at one time, virtually all courts said laws that ban interracial marriages are legal and constitutional. They no longer do.

The brief also says that gays and lesbians are not a suspect class or quasi-suspect class. This is an important issue. People in suspect classes are entitled to extra vigilant protection by the courts. It take less rigorous evidence for a court to determine that a policy or law is unlawful because it has a harmful effect on that class of people. (People of Color, for example, have long been recognized as a suspect class.) The brief provides a long list of court decisions, relating to gays, which it claims declare that gays are not a suspect class. If true, this could make it harder for the opponents of Proposition 8 to win in court.

The brief also deals with the question of whether the supporters of Proposition 8, and Imperial County, have standing to appeal the lower court decision against Proposition 8. This is an important issue because., if the appeals court decides that no one with standing has appealed that lower court decision, it might overturn Proposition 8 without even considering the merits of the case. (Those who oppose Proposition 8 are claiming that no one with standing has appealed the decision.)

The brief says that, even if the appeals court decides that those appealing in this case lack standing, the appeals court must investigate whether or not to lower court exceeded its authority in the decision it made on Proposition 8.The brief claims that, in a case called Arizonans, the Supreme Court squarely held that "[e]ven if we were to rule definitively that [appellants] lack standing, we would have an obligation essentially to search the pleadings on core matters of federal-court adjudicatory authority."

The brief then contends that the District Court did exceed its authority when it overturned Proposition 8. Here is the rational that they give.They say that, in overturning Proposition 8, the lower court opened marriage to all same sex couples. But only a handful of couples came to the lower court requesting this right. The court could have resolved the issue by ordering that those few couples be allowed to marry. The court overstepped its authority to granting that right even to couples who did not ask the court to do so.

The appeal from Imperial County made many of the same arguments. Their brief also asserts that the county does have standing to appeal the lower court decision. This is important because the appeals court may decide it should take no action unless someone with standing does appeal the decision.

We will just have to wait and see how the appeals court, and the US Supreme Court, rule on these and all the issues brought before the court.

The appeals court will take oral arguments in this case on December 6.

You may read the actual briefs discussed in this newsflash by clicking the following link at the end of this article and then scrolling down to and clicking on the links at the bottom of the web based version of the article.

Here is the link to get you started: http://www.calcomui.org/nwsflsh111310.html

Boyce Hinman

California Communities United Institute

POST COMMENT

Seo In Italy - Getting New Customers Nicholas Kirkwood With The Same Name Brand Footwear New Products Fall 2010 Italian Seo - Reaching A New Market Enjoy a "Green" World Cup with Solar-Powered Devices How To Get A New Home Based Business Working Quickly California Usa's New Year Travel Details To Experience Vacation Cheap Hotels, Dining And Disnelands The New Boss Brings In New Ideas The Cruise Season From the Port of New York is in Full Swing The Advantages Of Solar Street Light Sustainable - Energy For The Future California Usa's New Century Trip Guidelines About Vacation Luxurious Hotels Must-see's And Plazas T California Usa's New Tour Guidelines To Experience Vacation Cheap Hotels, Transportation And Museums Recondition Your Batteries Or Buy Expensive New Ones