by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
(June 4, 2008) The California Supreme Court has denied a request to stay its decision to allow same-sex marriages in spite of the more than one million signatures acquired from California voters that qualify the matter for a public vote in November, 2008.
“Denying a stay in light of the certification of the Marriage Protection Act for the November ballot reveals the political agenda of a handful of judges,” said Mathew D. Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, who argued the case at every stage of the litigation.
Today’s 4-3 decision was split along the same lines as the original May 15 ruling with Chief Justice George and Justices Kennard, Werdegar and Moreno in the majority and voting to deny the stay. They were the same justices who found that withholding marriage from same-sex couples constitutes discrimination. They did not elaborate on their reason for denying the stay and issued a one-page order saying its original ruling on marriage would be final at 5 p.m. on June 16.
The three dissenting judges, Justices Baxter, Chin and Corrigan, said they thought a hearing on whether the stay should be granted was warranted.
By denying the stay, the court has opened the door to same-sex couples who will have six months to flock to California to be married, then return home and initiate lawsuits to have their unions recognized in their home state, thus expanding same-sex marriage wars and creating a morass of lawsuits across the country. If the people vote to amend their constitution to limit marriage to one man and one woman in November, all of these unions will be declared invalid, which could create even more legal headaches.
Earlier this week, the California Secretary of State, Debra Bowen, certified the California Marriage Protection Act (“Amendment”) for the November 2008 ballot. The Amendment to the California Constitution states: “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” Thus, neither the courts nor any governmental agency will be permitted to validate or recognize any same-sex marriage license.
“Judges acting as judges and not as legislators would have granted the stay,” Staver said. “The battle over marriage is far from over and will not be decided by four judges. The people will decide in November. If any same-sex marriage licenses are issued before November, the passage of the constitutional amendment will make them invalid and invisible.”
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