Aug 11, 2008 4:39 pm US/Pacific
Calif. Gay Marriage Foes End Ballot Wording Fight
SACRAMENTO (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
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Same-sex couple Paul Festa and James Harker hold their marriage certificate after they were married at San Francisco City Hall on June 17.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
The sponsors of a November ballot measure seeking to ban same-sex marriage in California said Monday that they won't ask the state's highest court to throw out the revised title and summary state Attorney General Jerry Brown prepared for the initiative.
The group Protect Marriage had argued that Brown's amended version would prejudice voters against Proposition 8.
Earlier this month, Brown's office rewrote the measure's title to say the proposition would "eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry." It had been called "Limit on Marriage."
Proponents of the measure argued that Brown's title was misleading and argumentative.
Brown contended the title was accurate because the measure would in fact eliminate a constitutional right to same-sex marriage that was set forth in a May 15 California Supreme Court decision.
If approved, Proposition 8 would overrule the Supreme Court order legalizing gay marriage. The initiative would amend the state Constitution to provide that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."
Jennifer Kerns, a spokeswoman for Protect Marriage, said Monday that "we intend to leave the final outcome to the voters" rather than keep fighting in court.
Monday's decision came after Kerns' group lost two legal bids to change the wording.
Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Timothy Frawley ruled the title was "an accurate statement of the primary purpose and effect of the measure," and an appeals court also refused to order Brown to restore the original ballot language.
The appeals panel, in a one-paragraph order last Friday, cited previous appellate court rulings holding that an attorney general's title and summary should be presumed to be accurate and should be upheld "if reasonable minds differ."
Secretary of State Debra Bowen and State Printer Geoff Brandt had
asked that court rulings in the case be completed by 5 p.m. Monday to meet the deadline for sending the ballot pamphlet to the printer.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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