BarbinMD of Daily Kos has some good, interesting news about a new challenge to California’s odious Proposition 8 in Federal courts. Good news because they’re top-notch lawyers arguing from (theoretically, anyway, unless you’re a conservative “activist” Supreme Court Republican) hard to refute principles. Interesting because of who the lawyers are.
The plaintiffs are represented by Theodore B. Olson and David Boies. Olson, a former U.S. Solicitor General, represented George W. Bush in 2000’s Bush v. Gore, which decided the presidential election. Boies represented Al Gore in that case....
“Mr. Olson and I are from different ends of the political spectrum, but we are fighting this case together because Proposition 8 clearly and fundamentally violates the freedoms guaranteed to all of us by the Constitution,” Boies said. “Every American has a right to full equality under the law. Same sex couples are entitled to the same marriage rights as straight couples. Any alternative is separate and unequal and relegates gays and lesbians to a second class status.”
Their argument is that Proposition 8:
- Violates the Due Process Clause by impinging on fundamental liberties,
- Violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment,
- Singles out gays and lesbians for a disfavored legal status, thereby creating a category of “second-class citizens,”
- Discriminates on the basis of gender, and,
- Discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation.
Fingers crossed.
