Thursday, September 9, 2010

Court Won't Force Governator to Defend Prop 8

When California's Proposition 8 was challenged in court earlier this year Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown chose not to defend the voter initiative banning same-sex marriage on the grounds that they both believed it was wrong and unconstitutional. Last month judge Vaughn Walker found that Prop 8 violated the U.S. Constitution.

Last week a conservative legal group called the Pacific Justice Institute filed a law suit to force Schwarzenneger and Brown to defend the gay marriage ban in court during the upcoming appeals process. The California Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that it was perfectly legal for the governor and attorney general to choose not to defend a law they disagreed with. SFGate reports:
The state officials' decision not to argue in support of Proposition 8 has raised questions about whether anyone is legally qualified to defend it in court. The Pacific Justice Institute filed suit last week, arguing that the California Constitution requires Brown to defend the state's laws.

A state appeals court dismissed the suit without a hearing, and the state's high court denied review Wednesday without comment.

It will now be up to a federal appeals court, and possibly the U.S. Supreme Court, to decide whether Prop. 8's sponsors have legal standing - the right to represent the state's interests in defending one of its laws. Attorney Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute, said the court order was disappointing.

"People on the left and right should both be mourning the fact that the attorney general and the governor are reneging on their oaths of office," Dacus said, arguing that the officials have a sworn duty to defend all state laws.
Darn those activist judges and their non-actions.
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