Politics & Government

Poll: Were Judges Right to Reject Prop. 8 as Unconstitutional?

The move comes after Prop 8 was ruled unconstitutional by a lower court.

Proposition 8, the state's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, was struck down today as unconstitutional by a panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The ruling is likely to be appealed to either the full appellate court or the U.S. Supreme Court. (Ruling and summary attached.)

Because under California statutory law, same-sex couples had all the rights of opposite-sex couples, regardless of their marital status, all parties agree that Proposition 8 had one effect only. It stripped same-sex couples of the ability they previously possessed to obtain from the State, or any other authorized party, an important right—the right to obtain and use the designation of 'marriage' to describe their relationships. Nothing more, nothing less.

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Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples. The Constitution simply does not allow for "laws of this sort."

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That's what the judges think. How about you?


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