Dec 22, 2008 7:35 pm US/Pacific
Court Lets Prop 8. Sponsors Respond To AG Brown
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) ―
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Same-sex couple Helen Zia and her partner Lia Shigemuria get married by San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera at San Francisco City Hall June 17, 2008, in San Francisco.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Sponsors of California's new ban on same-sex marriage were given a chance by the state Supreme Court on Monday to respond to state Attorney General Jerry Brown's surprise move opposing the measure.
The court, in an order issued in San Francisco, said the sponsors could file a response by Jan. 5 to a new argument in which Brown on Friday urged the court to strike down Proposition 8.
Proposition 8, passed by voters as a state constitutional amendment on Nov. 4, bans same-sex marriage by providing that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."
It overturns a ruling in which the state high court said in May that the California Constitution provides a right to gay and lesbian marriage.
The high court is now considering three lawsuits filed by several same-sex couples and a coalition of cities and counties to challenge the measure. The panel is expected to hold a hearing as early as March and to rule on the case within three months of the hearing.
Brown, who is charged with defending the state's laws and constitution, initially said he would support Proposition 8 in court.
But in a brief filed late Friday, Brown reversed course and said Proposition 8 should be invalidated because it deprives citizens of a right determined by the court to be "part of fundamental human liberty."
Brown said that liberty right can't be taken away without a compelling justification.
The argument was different from the claims raised in the three lawsuits, in which the plaintiffs say the measure is a constitutional revision rather than an amendment and that it violates the doctrine of separation of powers.
The sponsors of Proposition 8 - five individuals and their campaign committee, ProtectMarriage.com - urged the court to reject those arguments in a brief filed earlier Friday, but had not yet seen Brown's new theory.
Monday's order gives them the opportunity to respond to that theory as well.
Andrew Pugno, a lawyer for the sponsors, could not immediately be reached for comment Monday, but on Friday said, "It is disappointing that the attorney general has refused to defend the vote of the people as the law instructs him to do."
Pugno said, "It will take some time to digest this new and unusual legal argument he has created" but said the sponsors will "remain focused on our role of providing the court with the law and argument that shows Proposition 8's validity."
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
California's 1st Same-Sex Marriage
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