CA Asks Court To Rule On Prop 8

Yesterday California Attorney General Jerry Brown asked the state Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of Proposition 8.

The attorney general, Jerry Brown, said in a brief that such a review was necessary to provide closure and clarity on the ballot measure, which has prompted protests across the country and several challenges filed with the court. “There is significant public interest in prompt resolution of the legality of Proposition 8,” Mr. Brown wrote. “This court can provide certainty and finality in this matter.”

Supporters of the ban also urged the court to rule on it, and asked for permission to intervene in its defense. As attorney general, Mr. Brown would represent the state in defending the proposition, but its backers suggested that he could not “be counted on to vigorously defend the measure” because, they said, he opposed it during the campaign for its passage. It is not known when the Supreme Court will decide whether to take up the case.

The central argument in the recently filed lawsuits is that Proposition 8 is a significant enough revision to the State Constitution to require approval by the Legislature. Supporters of the proposition, led by the group Protect Marriage, reject that argument, suggesting in legal papers filed Monday on behalf of five California residents that “when using the initiative process to amend the Constitution, the people exercise their sovereign power of self-government.”

In his filing on Monday, Mr. Brown stopped short of asking the court to stay the ban, saying that to do so could lead to more same-sex marriages, whose legality would then be in question if the court ultimately upheld the measure.

Yesterday Brown also repeated his opinion that Prop 8 does not invalidate the same-sex marriages that have already taken place.