Oral Arguments on Proposition 8 on Thursday

On Thursday the California Supreme Court will hear arguments as to why it should strike down Proposition 8 as an improper amendment of the California Constitution. The decision of the Court will reverberate across the country and, hopefully, will put to rest the concept that a slim majority of voters can take away the rights of minorities at will. The insidious precedent of Proposition 8 - which in the final analysis is naked discrimination based on religious belief - would set the stage where in theory Jews, Hindus, blacks and others disliked by a bare majority could have their civil rights stripped away. The supporters of Proposition 8 are being shown for what they are: religious zealots who seek to enshrine their religious beliefs in the civil laws and to Hell with anyone else. Not only has Jerry Brown, the California Attorney General urged the overturning of Proposition 8, but now so too have both houses of the California legislature as reported by state senator Mark Leno:
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SACRAMENTO – The California Senate today passed Senate Resolution 7, which declares the Senate’s opposition to Proposition 8, last year’s ballot measure that banned marriage for same-sex couples. SR 7, which passed the Senate with an 18-14 vote, was introduced by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and sponsored by Equality California.
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An identical measure in the Assembly, House Resolution 5, authored by Assembly member Tom Ammiano, passed the Assembly today. Resolutions do not require the governor’s signature, so both SR 7 and HR 5 immediately become the official position of the legislature.
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“Both houses of the Legislature recognize that Proposition 8 undermines the fundamental principle of equal protection guaranteed by the California Constitution,” said Senator Leno. “Proposition 8’s revision to the California Constitution violated key structural checks and balances in the state’s legal system when it was approved by a slim majority of voters last November. If Proposition 8 stands, we would be setting a dangerous precedent in California that allows a majority of the people to deny equal protection under the law to a minority of Californians.”

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The Mercury News reports these following details on the oral arguments on Thursday, March 5, 2009:

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The California Supreme Court will hear the legal showdown over gay marriage on March 5, ensuring a decision on the future of same-sex nuptials across the state will arrive before summer.

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In a statement released Tuesday, the high court set three hours of arguments for its calendar in San Francisco, setting the stage for the justices to consider a series of legal challenges to voter-approved Proposition 8. Civil rights groups and a number of cities and counties, led by San Francisco and Santa Clara County, sued after the November election, arguing that the ballot initiative is invalid and should be struck down.

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Attorney General Jerry Brown, in an unusual move, is not defending the law, arguing that Proposition 8 should be struck down because it erased an existing constitutional right. . . . Opponents of same-sex marriage have aligned behind Proposition 8, urging the state Supreme Court to uphold the law and warning that a ruling otherwise would ignore the will of the voters. Various organizations have threatened a political backlash against the court if the justices overturn the gay-marriage ban; the court was already divided 4-3 last year when it struck down the prior state law.

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In my view, the militant Christianists who support Proposition and use a Nazi like propaganda campaign against gays are a threat to religious freedom in this country.