Court Rules that ProtectMarrigae does indeed have the legal standing to oppose Judge Walker’s Ruling
More than just marriage rights, today’s decision has long reaching consequences in terms of whether or not the people can override legislative authority. At stake is the initiative process as a whole.
Do the people have the ability to pass a law that isn’t supported by their elected officials?
The court today said “yes.’
What this means: in the grand scheme of things this means that should a ballot initiative pass by popular vote, it is difficult if not impossible for a ruling legislative body to over turn it… in other words, popular majority wins and even if the Governor and Attorney General refuse to defend it, those who places the ballot initiative on the ballot in the first place have the right to argue for the legality and continuation of that ballot.
The point is that the court rules toward the Will of the People… even if those people make stupid bigoted decisions.
In the more immediate, this means that Judge Walker’s overturn of Prop 8 can be appealed by the very people who placed Prop 8 on the ballot… and that appeal could go as far as the Supreme Court.
This is a blow for the gay community, there is no question about that. but in a broader sense it is about so much more. Should the majority of citizens be allowed to dictate the rights of a minority? Should the ballot initiative system has as much power as it currently does? These are very valid questions and the debate on them has only just begun.
There is still a chance that the Appeals Court will uphold judge Walker’s ruling… but the optimism of the summer has indeed faded.
Source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.
