San Francisco, Calif., May 26, 2009 / 11:54 am
The California Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that Proposition 8, the successful California ballot measure which defined marriage to be between a man and a woman, is constitutional. It also decided that the some 18,000 homosexual “marriages” contracted in the state should remain valid in law.
By a vote of 6-1, the state Supreme Court justices ruled Proposition 8 was constitutional. The court unanimously ruled that existing “marriages” would stand.
Proposition 8 was put forward as a response to the California Supreme Court’s May 2008 decision which by a vote of 4-3 overturned a state ban on such unions.
Chief Justice Ronald M. George authored the majority opinion in today's court decision.
The court rejected Prop. 8 opponents’ “principal argument,” which was that the proposition was not a constitutional amendment but rather a constitutional revision. A revision may only be proposed in a state constitutional convention.