11/17/2008
Jerry Brown Tells California Supreme Court to Hear Anti-8 Suits
California Attorney General Jerry Brown advised the state's Supreme Court that they should decide whether or not Proposition 8 is constitutional:
"Brown - who would defend Prop. 8 before the court as the state government's top lawyer - said in a filing today that the justices should accept for review the four lawsuits that have challenged the Nov. 4 ballot measure. All four lawsuits argue that Prop. 8, a state constitutional amendment, violates other provisions of California's Constitution by taking rights away from a historically persecuted minority group and stripping judges of their power to protect that group."
He also said that the measure should not be stayed while the courts decide:
Said Brown's office: "...due to the potential uncertainty that may be caused in important legal relationships by a temporary stay, the public interest would be better served by allowing Proposition 8 to remain in effect while expediting briefing."
Posted 5:22 PM EST by Andy Towle in California, Gay Marriage, News, Proposition 8 | Permalink
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Jerry Brown's office helped us prior to the election by mandating a change to the language used on the ballot (they insisted the ballot point out that prop 8 would remove an existing right). Hopefully they will not pursue a vigorous defense.
Posted by: peterparker | Nov 17, 2008 5:33:40 PM
Bravo to Jerry Brown
Posted by: Stephen Moses | Nov 17, 2008 5:39:25 PM
@
Hopefully they will not pursue a vigorous defense.
which is precisely why jerry brown should recuse himself and let the wingnuts pick their own defense lawyer, or presecutor, whichever. any decision reached by him will be deemed tainted and settle nothing.
Posted by: jack | Nov 17, 2008 5:56:54 PM
In 1963 the Rumford Fair Housing Act was passed in the California Assembly and signed by the Governor making it illegal to discriminate based on race in housing. Within that same year a Constitutional Amendment was placed on the ballot to overturn the Rumford Fair Housing Act. It won by 65% of the vote. The Amendment was challenged and eventually made it's way to the Supreme Court. There the Constitutional Amendment banning fair housing was overturned.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumford_Fair_Housing_Act#Rumford_Fair_Housing_Act
Continue to fight for marriage equality. There is hope. Marriage of same-sex couples is American.
Posted by: Rob | Nov 17, 2008 6:03:08 PM
Sorry, Peter, Jerry Brown Shirt is an asshat with most of his screws missing.
Yes, he tweaked the language but we'll never know whether it made a difference because we still LOST!
He also fought WITH the Homohaters to convince the CA Supremes to shut down gay marriage equality before their May opposite decision.
Now, he's siding WITH THEM AGAIN to KEEP gay marriage illegal except for those who didn't get to their clerk's office on time.
And, again, his excuse is that he's just doing his job. Just following orders. Just like Adolph Eichmann did when he claimed the Israelis should let him go even tho he came up with the logistical plans to round up and transport to the death camps millions of Jews.
Would any of YOU go to the Supremes TWICE to ban gay marriage in the name of your job title? CONSCIENCE should OVERRIDE job description. In Eichmann's time and in Brown's!
Posted by: Leland Frances | Nov 17, 2008 6:34:01 PM
Leland Frances,
"Yes, he tweaked the language but we'll never know whether it made a difference because we still LOST!"
Actually there *is* research that the change in language did help somewhat:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080918/news_1n18prop8.html
Posted by: Mike | Nov 17, 2008 6:52:50 PM
@ leland francis: You don't seem to understand the role of Attorney General. He's not siding with anyone. He's doing his job. The fact that he changed the language of the proposition to make it very clear that it stripped rights from a minority group reveals that he's sensitive to LGBT people and minority rights in general. There's no assurance that anyone who took his place would be any more sensitive.
Posted by: MichaelF | Nov 17, 2008 7:05:56 PM
Fuck Jerry Brown for defending the indefensible.
Posted by: Roscoe | Nov 17, 2008 7:27:11 PM
If you do not like the performance of the attorney general then we have the right not to vote for him in the Democratic Party primary in 2010 for governor.
However even if he wins, he's sadly better than most of the clowns the Republican party will nominate in 2010.
Posted by: Matt from California | Nov 17, 2008 7:40:23 PM
MichaelF: you don't know how to READ. Or understand what you do.
Brown "doing his job" is no more an excuse, a defense, immune to condemnation than Eichmann's "doing his job" in Nazi Germany, Sheriff Bull Connor "doing his job" turning vicious dogs and fire hoses onto peaceful demonstrators against Jim Crow laws in the South, the hangman in "doing his job" carrys out the LEGAL murder of gay teens sentenced to death under the homohating LAWS of Iran.
I don't need someone to just be "sensitive to LGBT people." That's the wife beater defense, who, after being her unconscious, defends himself by saying, "I didn't kill her, did I?"
How fucking willing some of you are to remain shat upon. Pull your head out of your ass; stop bending over for the status quo and clinching your gluteals around anal retentive concepts of words trumping morality; stand erect. You, too, can "be a man."
Posted by: Leland Frances | Nov 17, 2008 8:21:22 PM
Leland, I'm glad you're so passionate and idealistic. You're right. This is exactly like the Holocaust. And it's all Jerry Brown's fault. Let's all make some wild hyperbolic statements and insult each other at the same time. And then let's get rid of the judicial system and replace it with a big rainbow. Now everything is perfect. Yay!
Posted by: MichaelF | Nov 17, 2008 9:21:07 PM
Leland, you need to study how government works. Jerry Brown is obligated as the Attorney General to uphold the laws of California REGARDLESS of how he feels personally. It has to be that way. Think for a second. Let's say the next Attorney General is a right-wing Republican and let's pretend that the Supreme Court does the right thing and voids Prop 8. So now the law of California is that same-sex marriage is legal. But the Christian nut-jobs don't like that so they file some lawsuit to try to ban gay marriage again.
Well now the Attorney General is supposed to argue on behalf of the State of California and the state says gay marriage is a good thing. But this new right-wing A.G. thinks that gay marriage is evil and decides not to argue the merits of keeping same-sex marriage legal because of his personal beliefs.
Wouldn't you want the AG to do his job in that case and not let his personal beliefs get in the way??
It cuts both ways. If you want Jerry Brown to argue his own beliefs instead of the law, then the same thing could happen when the tables are turned. That is why the Attorney General has to leave his personal feelings out of it. And Jerry Brown should not be attacked for doing his job honorably and playing by the rules.
Posted by: jeffrey | Nov 17, 2008 10:32:08 PM
Leland Frances,
Dude, Jerry Brown is doing his job, which he is constitutionally obligated to do as attorney general. The attorney general is required to enforce laws that are written no matter how they were put in place. The attorney general is not allowed to be the arbiter of which laws are constitutional or not. The duty to decide constitutionality of laws is vested in the judiciary. The duty to enforce is entrusted with the executive branch, which is where the job of attorney general is located. So, while I know you think he is an asshat for defending the indefensible we still live in a society founded and managed by a system of laws. It is better that the attorney general do his job, b/c if he does not the right wing will have a hell of a lot more gasoline to throw on the flames of hate.
oh, and I don't think you can make a claim that rounding up and planning to put jews in death camps is anything like the attorney general of the state of california enforcing the marriage laws of california.
Posted by: ERB | Nov 17, 2008 10:42:06 PM
michaelf--lol..nice
Posted by: ERB | Nov 17, 2008 10:45:06 PM
There is only one positive outcome here, and at this point must of us believe that is not enough. We are a Nation and we seek justice and equality across the board.
Posted by: Rafael | Nov 18, 2008 1:35:50 AM
I think the AG should have been faster to act on blocking the presentation of anti-constitutional amendments like Prop 8. Even if gets overturned there is a long limbo period where questions of custody, property, hospital access, health insurance access etc are affecting living people on a daily basis.
Posted by: Mike | Nov 18, 2008 4:50:04 AM
If you know California politics at all, you know Jerry Brown. He has been a strong defender of LGBT rights and during the 1970s was in fact himself the subject of gay rumors. (His pal Linda Rondstadt was supposedly also his beard.) As AG he has to do his job, but just the fact that he is urging the courts to hear these cases as quickly as possible is a sign of his support. By changing the original language of Prop 8 he was supporting historical data that showed that voters are much more reluctant to take away granted rights than simply block access to rights not yet achieved. We here in CA are lucky to have him in this position during this turbulent time. Blame the lies of the christian right for our defeat, not the consciousness of our AG who has always been a progressive politician.
Posted by: Randy | Nov 18, 2008 1:36:39 PM