Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals declares Proposition 8 to be Unconstitutional

By: Charles Press

On February 7, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals declared Proposition 8 to be unconstitutional because the court ruled that it violated the equal protection clause.  The court’s ruling was narrow and did not address the broader question of whether or not same-sex couples have the constitutional right to marry.  Rather, the court pointed to the fact that proposition 8 rescinded a right that was held and exercised by California residents when many of them legally married.   The court ruled 2-1 on the issue, and the lone dissenter, N.R. Smith, expressed the possibility of voters believing that there might have been a rational basis in passing the law to promote “responsible procreation”.  Justice Scalia, however, in Lawrence v. Texas, dismissed this idea when he asked “what justification could there possibly be for denying the benefits of marriage to homosexual couples exercising [t]he liberty protected by the Constitution? Surely not the encouragement of procreation, since the sterile and the elderly are allowed to marry.”

The case could very well find its way to the Supreme Court, as it will likely be appealed. 

Further reading:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/calif-same-sex-marriage-ban-ruled-%20unconstitutional/2012/02/07/gIQAMNwkwQ_story.html