Prop. 8 backers blast Calif. Attorney General Brown

In papers submitted to the state Supreme Court, lawyers for the Protect Marriage coalition argued that Brown had “invented an entirely new theory” by asking the justices to trump the electorate, which approved Proposition 8 to amend the state Constitution to limit marriage to a man and a woman.

“We will not mince words. The attorney general is inviting this court to declare a constitutional revolution,” reads the brief co-written by Kenneth Starr, dean of Pepperdine University's law school and former independent counsel who investigated President Bill Clinton.

The competing positions come in a series of legal challenges to Proposition 8 brought after the ballot initiative passed with 52 percent of the vote on Nov. 4. Brown initially said he would defend the measure in his role as attorney general.

But in a dramatic reversal, he changed course two weeks ago and joined same-sex marriage supporters in asking the court to void Proposition 8 and to uphold the estimated 18,000 same-sex unions sanctioned during the four months gay marriage was legal in the state.

Lawyers for the couples, gay rights groups and cities that brought the cases argue that the measure's backers used a flawed process for qualifying the amendment for the ballot.

Brown, however, argues that the amendment itself is unconstitutional because the Supreme Court established marriage as a fundamental right in its May decision striking down previous one man-one woman marriage statutes.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos Respond to this email