"Prop 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples."
~ Judge Stephen ReinhardtProposition 8, a ballot and constitutional amendment that passed in November 2008 and stated that, "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in the state of California," was found unconstitutional today!!!
Prop 8 was found in violation of the 14th amendment's equal protection clause which requires that no state shall deny equal protection under the law to all people within its jurisdiction.
All I have to say is, you gotta love the 14th amendment! It is the same amendment sited to overrule the Dred Scott v. Sanford ruling in 1857 using the citizenship clause, desegregate schools using the equal protection clause in Brown v. Board of Ed. in 1954 and invalidate sex discrimination using the equal protection clause in Reed v. Reed in 1971!
Republican presidential candidate, Rick Santorum, had to chime in with his two cents on twitter:
Give it a rest!7M Californians had their rights stripped away today by activist 9th Circuit judges. As president I will work to protect marriage.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/07/prop-8-ruling-same-sex-marriage-9th-circuit_n_1260316.html?ref=mostpopular
Way to go Judge Stephen Reinhardt! And to the 14th Amendment.
ReplyDelete