California Gay Marriage Ban STRUCK DOWN By Federal Appeals Court
Today a federal appeals court ruled that California’s infamous Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.
Like a previous ruling from Judge Vaughn R. Walker, the court ruled that Proposition 8 violates the equal protection of gay and lesbian couples by denying them the right to marry.
Today’s ruling basically ensures that the case will reach the Supreme Court.
“Although the Constitution permits communities to enact most laws they believe to be desirable, it requires that there be at least a legitimate reason for the passage of a law that treats different people differently,” Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote in the decision. “There was no such reason that Proposition 8 could have been enacted.”
“All that Proposition 8 accomplished was to take away from same sex-couples the right to be granted marriage licenses and thus legally to use the designation ‘marriage,” the judge wrote, adding: “Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gay men and lesbians in California.”
Supporters of Proposition 8 can now ask for a larger panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to take up the case. But they could also chose instead to appeal the case directly to the Supreme Court, setting the stage for a decision by the nation’s highest court on an issue that has roiled legal, political and cultural circles here and across the country.”
Read the rest of this article at NYTimes.com!
What do you think of today’s ruling?
Do you support marriage equality for same-sex couples?
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