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Proposition 8 was drafted BEFORE the California Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage is legal. At that time, stating that marriage was "only between a man and a woman" would have been a simple enactment which could have been executed as an amendment to the Constitution. BUT, the marriage ruling changed everything: marriage is now considered a FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT and gays and lesbians are now considered a SUSPECT CLASS which basically means that they should be afforded fundamental rights under the EQUAL PROTECTION CLAUSE of the state constitution. This ruling brought about sweeping changes to our understanding of marriage, and covers not only equality under the equal protection clause, but also an "individual's interest in personal autonomy protected by the right of privacy" (government cannot now violate the rights of same-sex marital privacy), and "the liberty interest protected by the due process clause" (deprivation of such a liberty triggers a requirement for due process). These constitute far reaching changes to our basic GOVERNMENTAL PLAN and for a proposed modification to the State Constitution to remove these changes would be considered broad revisions to at least three separate portions of the Constitution which are not even addressed in the Prop 8 initiative.
After the marriage ruling, a petition was circulated calling for the removal of Proposition 8 from the Novembr ballot on the grounds that it was a constitutional REVISION, not an amendment, that only the state legislature (by 2/3 vote) or a constitutional convention could place before voters. Also the petitions used to gather signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot inadequately summarized its effect. The court denied the petition without comment, but as a general rule, "it is improper for courts to adjudicate pre-election challenges to a measure's substantive validity." The question of whether Proposition 8 is a constitutional amendment or constitutional revision remains unresolved, and a new petition arguing that Proposition 8 is a revision was filed by civil rights groups on November 5.
No matter what the news media or any legal experts may say, these are the main reasons for which the California State Supreme Court could very well rule that Proposition 8 is invalid. It does NOT need to be taken to the Federal Supreme Court, and its status as a State Constitutional Amendment has not yet been decided. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise and, by all means, stand up for your rights!
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