Source: San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Sacramento Bee
California's Attorney General, Jerry Brown, said Monday that he does not believe that Prop. 8 -- the state's marriage limitation amendment -- would invalidate existing marriages if passed.
The ballot measure aims to amend the state's constitution to declare "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized."
If the ballot measure passes in November, Brown would be obligated to defend it against what is sure to be a flurry of legal challenges, but he told the San Francisco Chronicle that he doesn't think the measure would apply retroactively.
"I believe that marriages that have been entered into subsequent to the (May 15) Supreme Court opinion will be recognized by the California Supreme Court," Brown told The Chronicle. Noting that Prop. 8 is silent about retroactivity, he said, "I would think the court, in looking at the underlying equities, would most probably conclude that upholding the marriages performed in that interval (before the election) would be a just result."
Brown's office also said in a court filing Monday that he believes the ballot measure would not invalidate existing marriages.
Brown's legal filing was among a flurry of competing arguments submitted yesterday to a Sacramento County Superior Court judge, who is scheduled to hold a hearing Thursday on challenges to the ballot materials that will be sent to California's 16 million registered voters.
One issue is Brown's title for Prop. 8, which declares that the measure "eliminates the right of same-sex couples to marry."
The Yes on 8 campaign said in a lawsuit last week that the title was "inherently argumentative and highly likely to create prejudice" against the measure. The campaign asked the judge to order a different title, such as "Limit on Marriage," which was used during signature-gathering before the court ruling.
A spokeswoman for the Yes on 8 campaign last week called Brown's wording "so inflammatory that it will unduly prejudice voters against the measure."
A political columnist for the Sacramento Bee called Brown's wording for the ballot measure a cynical ploy designed to garner votes for Brown's expected gubernatorial bid in 2010.
Brown's spokesman insisted last week that the change merely conforms its effect to the Supreme Court ruling, but the gay rights groups opposed to Prop. 8 rejoiced and proponents fumed.
Both know that to some voters – perhaps a decisive bloc in a close election – the new ballot title language could make the measure sound punitive by eliminating a "right." And it could be a close election.
Brown defended his ballot language as neutral and accurate in Monday's court filings.
Opponents of Prop. 8 also pressed their challenge Monday to a section of the Yes on 8 argument submitted for the voter's pamphlet. Proponents of Prop. 8 claim that teachers would be required to tell students as early as kindergarten that "gay marriage is OK" unless the ballot measure passes.
Lawyers for the No on 8 campaign called the claim baseless and asked that it be stricken from the voters pamphlet.
Source: AG Brown: Despite vote, same-sex marriages since May 15 will stay legal | San Francisco Chronicle
Gay-marriage opponents decry new Prop. 8 language as 'inflammatory' | San Jose Mercury News
Dan Walters: Jerry Brown's cynical ploy on gay rights | Sacramento Bee