Politics
Wednesday June 4, 2008
See today's LifeSiteNews stories
California Supreme Court Refuses to Stay Same-Sex "Marriage" Decision
San Francisco, CA , June 4, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Today the California Supreme Court, by a 4-3 vote, denied the Petition for Stay and for Rehearing in the California marriage cases. This past May 15 the Supreme Court ruled in those cases to allow same-sex "marriages" in the state to go forward, despite the fact that the contentious issue is slated to come before California voters in the form of a vote on a constitutional amendment during this November's election. Several conservative organizations, however, petitioned to have last month's decision put on hold until the November referendum.
Today's decision to deny the petition 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. Justices Baxter, Chin and Corrigan dissented. Today's ruling states that the May 15 same-sex "marriage" decision will become final on June 16, 2008, at 5:00 pm (PT), opening the door to the possibility of thousands of homosexual couples obtaining marriage licenses before California voters have the chance to address the issue.
Liberty Counsel filed a petition on behalf of the Campaign for California Families requesting the California Supreme Court to stay its opinion pending the November referendum. On Monday, 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, should the amendment pass, neither the courts nor any governmental agency will be permitted to validate or recognize any same-sex marriage license.
The cases now will return to the California Court of Appeal for the Supreme Court's order to be implemented. Liberty Counsel is considering filing a petition with the Court of Appeal, requesting a stay pending the outcome of the November vote on the Amendment. The Court of Appeal panel previously upheld the state's marriage laws.
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, commented: "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. Judges acting as judges and not as legislators would have granted the stay. 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."
Back to TopSHARE THIS STORY: E-mail Print Newsvine Digg Reddit Del.icio.us Facebook
Latest Headlines
- Abortionist Pleads No Contest to Felonies, Faces up to 10 Years in Jail
- Author of French "Right to Die" Law Opposes Efforts to Legalize Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia
- Bush Interview: "I Didn't Sell my Soul for Politics"
- Life Prizes Announces Winners of $600,000 Pro-Life Award
- Purchase of Christmas Music CD By Pro-Life Priest is Great Way to Support LifeSiteNews
- Australian Health Minister Fires Men’s Health Ambassador for Documenting Risks of Homosexuality
- IKEA’s Polish Catalogue Introduces “Ian and Steve” as a Model of the New Family
- Abortion Increases Women's Mental Health Problems: New Study
- Conservative Attorney General Seeks to Quash Morgentaler Order of Canada Challenge
- EU Rejects Patent that “Necessarily Involves the Use and Destruction of Human Embryos”
- South Korean Court Orders Removal of Life Support from Comatose Woman
- The Power of a Bold Bishop
- God is Pro-Choice Says Nun
- Danish Study Shows almost 50% More Down's Children Eugenically Aborted with New Screening Options
- Letters to the Editor for Monday, December 1, 2008
Most Read this Week
- Behind the Scenes of Volition: Coincidences and Startling Circumstances
- Ad Showing Woman Seducing Santa Promotes Free Morning-After Pills and Condoms for Christmas
- Belgian Couple Sells Baby on EBay
- Leading Canadian Pro-Life MP Relates Shocking 20 Year Lack of Support From Catholic Clergy
- Naming the Anti-Life Appointments in the Obama Administration
- Cardinal on Biblical Condemnation of Homosexuality: We're Not Allowed the Cowardice of "Politically Correct" Silence
- A Painful, Disease-Ridden Death Isn’t So Bad if You’re Just a White, Heterosexual Male
- Film Review: Volition
- Just In Time for Christmas - Gift Cards for Abortions from Planned Parenthood
- Abortion Now Number One Cause of Death in Spain
MORE NEWS: 
LifeSiteNews.com Home Page Last 10 Days Archives Special Reports
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.