AG: Gay Marriage Ruling Should Stand

The state of California is ready to give up the fight against same-sex marriage.

In a brief filed with the California Supreme Court on Thursday, Attorney General Jerry Brown’s office advises the court to ignore conservative legal groups who asked last week that the landmark May 15 ruling upholding gay and lesbian marriages be reheard or stayed until after the Nov. 4 election.

“This historic litigation is now concluded,” Sacramento-based Senior Assistant Attorney General Christopher Krueger wrote. “The court has declared the law governing the right of same-sex couples to marry, and the attorney general undertakes to give effect to that declaration with no less vigor than he previously sought to give effect to the statutes in dispute. It is time for these proceedings to end.”

The AG’s position — which responded to a rehearing and stay petition filed by the Alliance Defense Fund last week — is a big rebuke to conservative groups because the AG had earlier argued against same-sex marriages before the California Supreme Court. The Florida-based Liberty Counsel and Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, the two main conservative legal groups that fought gay marriage, will find no ally in Brown’s office.

In fact, Krueger argued in Thursday’s brief that the Alliance Defense Fund “has failed to identify any material mistake or omission of law or fact in the majority opinion that would provide a basis for rehearing.”

And he warned about adhering to the fund’s argument that a stay is warranted until after a possible constitutional amendment limiting marriage to a man and a woman goes before voters.

“In short, the stay sought by the fund,” Krueger wrote, “would be unprecedented in purpose, would have the effect of mingling judicial processes with political processes and would be tantamount to anticipatory implementation of the proposed initiative measure even before it is submitted to the voters.”

He also argued against the fund’s “concern” that complex legal issues will arise if couples marry before an amendment is adopted by the voters.

“Assuming for purposes of argument that a change in the law could invalidate marriages that have already taken place,” Krueger wrote, “the short answer to the fund’s expression of concern is that these are adults, couples who are fully capable of consulting counsel and weighing the risks of their actions.”

—  Mike McKee

Comments

[Gay Marriage Blog]

let’s be honest about those commercials here. When were you ever taught about marriage in school? Those commercials are targeted towards public schools which have sex ed but… there’s no such thing as “marriage ed.” Those commercials are ridiculous. And has anyone else besides me noticed that: 1. they used the same book as the prop in all the commercials 2. The commercials are all set in Massachusetts. …think about it.

[Bill]

Guys there is a great LGBT civil rights organization called the Empowering Spirits Foundation. They are very creative in how they approach this hot topic issue, in that they engage in service oriented activities in communities typically opposed to equal rights to foster thought and change for LGBT equality.

A friend of mine told me about it and I thought it was a great, positive approach to the issue. We had so much fun at the last event and it was great to give back to the community. Plus it was great to converse with others on the other side of the table in a way that wasn't confrontational.

Anyway, this can be such a heated issue and I thought this was a unique approach.