On the eve of the Federal court challenge to Prop 8, David Boies appeared on Good Morning America Weekend edition to discuss the upcoming case which begins in San Francisco tomorrow. Watch:
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Officials from Imperial County California filed an emergency motion yesterday to join with ProtectMarriage.com to defend Proposition 8 in the upcoming court case led by Ted Olson and David Boies. Located at the southeastern tip of the state, the largely conservative county supported Proposition 8 by an overwhelming 69 percent of the vote in 2008. From SFGate:
The Imperial County Board of Supervisors voted in favor of an emergency motion Tuesday to intervene in the case. Supervisors say the county’s participation is needed because Attorney General Jerry Brown supports overturning the voter-approved measure, while Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has taken a neutral position on it.
The board approved the motion by a 3-2 margin.
Imperial County also voted for the Briggs Initiative back in 1978 by the same margin, 69 percent. The measure which would have barred gays and lesbians from teaching in public schools, ultimately went down to defeat thanks to gay rights pioneer and icon Harvey Milk.
It’s interesting that the supervisors felt it necessary to file an “emergency” motion to intervene in the case. Did they also take similar dramatic action when they found out Imperial County has the second highest teen pregnancy rate in the state?
The more things change… the more they stay the same.
A trail date of January 2010 has been set for hearings to begin on a Federal challenge to Proposition 8, which passed in November of 2008 preventing California from recognizing same-sex marriages.
About 30 lawyers crowded into a San Francisco courtroom hearing the challenge to California’s Proposition 8 same-sex marriage ban, a high-risk venture that will set court policy for years, if it reaches the U.S. Supreme court.
Ted Olson, the lawyer whose Supreme Court arguments put President George W. Bush in the White House, and David Boies, his opponent in the 2000 case, joined forces to overturn Prop. 8, arguing precedents showed they could win.
Gay rights groups had avoided federal court in favour of a state-by-state battle for fear conservative Supreme Court justices would deny their cause. A handful of U.S. states, mostly in the northeast, have allowed same-sex marriage, but the overwhelming majority forbid it.
In respectful tones, Olson told federal district Judge Vaughn Walker participation by gay groups and social conservatives would only slow the case.
Walker, clearly eager to focus and speed arguments, denied the groups’ motions but added the city and county of San Francisco to the case as a government representative. Calif. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signalled his administration will not actively join the case.
Advocacy groups against Prop 8 that were denied to the case include Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and the American Civil Liberties Union. Campaign for California Families which supports Proposition 8 was also denied access to the case.
To the disdain of of many pro-marriage equality groups, Theodore B. Olson and David Boies who argued Bush v. Gore back in 2000, are challenging Proposition 8 on the grounds the ruling creates a class of “second-class citizens” thereby violating the the U.S. Constitution. Representing two same-sex couples under the newly founded American Foundation for Equal Rights, the legal odd couple will fight Proposition 8 all the way to the Supreme Court. Video from today’s press conference.
Pro marriage equality groups are concerned that if the battle for same-sex marriage reaches the Supreme Court, a ruling in our favor is unlikely considering the conservative-leaning makeup of the court, possibly setting the movement back years. Others suspect that there is conspiracy at work on behalf of the Right to derail the same-sex marriage movement entirely by pushing same-sex marriage into the Supreme Court before gaining enough public support and before the Court is ready to rule favorably.