Jul 16, 2008 7:53 pm US/Pacific
CA Top Court Rejects Gay Marriage Vote Lawsuit
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
The California Supreme Court refused Wednesday afternoon to hear a case seeking to keep a gay marriage ban initiative off the November election ballot.
The court denied the petition in a unanimous vote at its regular conference meeting, according to court spokeswoman Lynn Holton. The court did not give a reason for deciding not to accept the case.
The justices' decision not to take up the case means Proposition 8 will stay on the ballot barring further legal action. It also cleared the way for the secretary of state to print voter information pamphlets on the issue.
The initiative seeks to amend California's constitution to ban same-sex nuptials in the state. The ballot measure would require that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."
If approved, the amendment would overrule a May 15 decision by the state Supreme Court legalizing gay marriage. The court ruled that the state constitution's guarantees of equal treatment and privacy provide a right to same-sex marriage.
Equality California, headquartered in San Francisco, filed a petition last month arguing that the signature petitions used to put the proposal on the ballot were misleading.
The petitions - printed up before the court struck down the state's marriage laws - were misleading because signers were told last fall and winter that the measure would make no change to the manner in which marriage is recognized in California, the group argued.
The group also claimed Proposition 8 was a constitutional revision rather than an amendment, which would make it improper to put before voters.
While a state constitutional amendment can be enacted by a voter initiative alone, a proposed revision must be approved by two-thirds of each house of the California Legislature before being submitted to state voters.
Equality California was joined in the unsuccessful suit by the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund.
"We're disappointed, but this ruling does not affect the campaign against Prop. 8 in any way," the groups said in a statement. "We have been focused on continuing the election and moving forward."
The ballot measure's proponents, conservative groups including the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund and the group ProtectMarriage, successfully opposed the Equality California lawsuit.
"This was a frivolous lawsuit. It was a desperate attempt to try to keep the voter initiative off the ballot in November," said Glen Lavy, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund.
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