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Watching the Supreme Court Take on Prop 8
Whether you watched at home, in your office or in public like at West Hollywood's Auditorium, this morning's Prop 8 state Supreme Court hearing was a long three hours as lawyers from both side were hammered with questions from the seven justices.
Raymond C. Marshall of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center was one of the first to speak to the justices. "This is the first time a ballot initiative will have been used to take away a fundamental right from a suspect class," he said.
Later, Kenneth Starr from Pepperdine University (Alumni = not happy) took the stand. "One of the inalienable rights articulated in the [California] Constitution is control over the Constitution," he said defending Prop 8's legality when held up against the light of it denying fundamental right to gay citizens. It's not up to the government to dictate the constitution, he said. "Governors change, legislatures change, but the enduring structure is there to protect liberty."
When it came to the 18,000 couples who legally married between June--when this very same court said gay marriage was legal--and November, Justice Carol Corrigan seemed to be against nullifying them. "If Californians can't rely on what this court says ... who should they ask?"
The court has up to 90 days to come out with a decision.
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