PROP 8 OVERTURNED AS UNCONSTITUTIONAL! PARTY TIME!
I'm sure most of you have heard by now, but I just needed to make a post. Judge Vaughn Walker overturned Proposition 8 as unconstitutional today. And that makes it a good day to be alive.
NY Magazine's report
Unsurprisingly, a lot of the early negative reaction focuses on voter's rights since Prop 8 did pass with a 4% majority. In response, I would like to offer the following excerpt from Judge Walkers 136 page opinion:
For the reasons stated in the sections that follow, the evidence presented at trial fatally undermines the premises underlying proponents' proffered rationales for Proposition 8. An initiative measure adopted by the voters deserves great respect. The considered views and opinions of even the most highly qualified scholars and experts seldom outweighs the determinations of the voters. When challenged, however, the voters' determinations must find at least some support in evidence. This is especially so when those determinations enact into law classifications of persons. Conjecture, speculations and fears are not enough. Still less will the moral disapprobation of a group or class of citizens suffice, no matter how large the majority that shares that view. The evidence demonstrated beyond serious reckoning that Proposition 8 finds support only in such disapproval. As such, Proposition 8 is beyond the constitutional reach of the voters or their representatives.
Find the full opinion here.
YOU GUYS. SOMEBODY HOLD ME. I THINK I HAVE A GLIMMER OF FAITH IN THE POLITICAL PROCESS AGAIN.
NY Magazine's report
Unsurprisingly, a lot of the early negative reaction focuses on voter's rights since Prop 8 did pass with a 4% majority. In response, I would like to offer the following excerpt from Judge Walkers 136 page opinion:
For the reasons stated in the sections that follow, the evidence presented at trial fatally undermines the premises underlying proponents' proffered rationales for Proposition 8. An initiative measure adopted by the voters deserves great respect. The considered views and opinions of even the most highly qualified scholars and experts seldom outweighs the determinations of the voters. When challenged, however, the voters' determinations must find at least some support in evidence. This is especially so when those determinations enact into law classifications of persons. Conjecture, speculations and fears are not enough. Still less will the moral disapprobation of a group or class of citizens suffice, no matter how large the majority that shares that view. The evidence demonstrated beyond serious reckoning that Proposition 8 finds support only in such disapproval. As such, Proposition 8 is beyond the constitutional reach of the voters or their representatives.
Find the full opinion here.
YOU GUYS. SOMEBODY HOLD ME. I THINK I HAVE A GLIMMER OF FAITH IN THE POLITICAL PROCESS AGAIN.