Comments on: Field Poll: Californians Support Same-Sex Marriage

By: Californians support marriage equality, says new Field Poll « break the terror

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:17:51 +0000

[...] support marriage equality, says new Field Poll Yep. The last Field Poll on the issue was just after the Supreme Court ruling, and it found that 51% of Californians were [...]

By: Duncan

Duncan — Thu, 29 May 2008 12:07:56 +0000

Parts of the constitution may grant rights that are opposed to each other (such as the right to information vs the right to privacy). The principle used by the Supreme Court in the USA (and followed in most other democracies) is that a law may restrict a constitutional right only by invoking another.
But “marriage between gay and lesbian couples” surely means a gay couple marrying a lesbian couple. Shouldn’t it be “marriage between gay or lesbian partners” or “marriage for gay and lesbian couples”?

By: werdna

werdna — Thu, 29 May 2008 08:33:24 +0000

howller, thants for the link, very good stuff.

Mark, yes fine, you’ve out niggled me. ;-)

My point was just (in response to Jason D’s questions) that an amendment to a constitution (US or state) will supercede any existing part of the constitution with which it conflicts. Another example would be the 14th Amendment which (among other things) rescinded the “3/5 compromise” found in the main body of the US Constitution.

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 29 May 2008 02:37:17 +0000

wernda:

Actually, drinking alcohol has never been illegal for adults in this country. Prohibition just outlawed the commercial manufacture, sale and distribution of alcohol. A few counties in some states still maintain prohibition.

By: howller

howller — Wed, 28 May 2008 23:54:31 +0000

Werdna: "I’ve actually been looking for some analysis of what the legal implications of the proposed amendment might be." A good place to start would be Leonard Link

By: werdna

werdna — Wed, 28 May 2008 21:26:30 +0000

Amendements to the US Constitution can override existing amendments. That’s why we can drink alcohol legally again (cheers!). Is there any reason we couldn’t pass an amendment that would supercede one of the first 10? The “Bill of Rights” isn’t legally untouchable is it? It’s just politically and culturally hard to imagine changing those amendments because they are considered central to the American project.

In the case of the California constitution, an amendment would certainly supercede a judicial ruling. The recent ruling said that the state can’t offer equivalent opposite-sex marriage and same-sex domestic partnerships, so it seems possible that the result of the amendment would be that nobody at all could get married in California, or that the state couldn’t offer same-sex domestic partnerships. I’ve actually been looking for some analysis of what the legal implications of the proposed amendment might be. It’s one of those things that seems simple (just adding one line to the constitution) but the implications could be far wider (and wilder).

By: cowboy

cowboy — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:58:54 +0000

Affirmation (gay Mormons) has issued a press release asking the LDS Church stay out of California politics.

Not likely to happen but I wonder if Californians will take kindly to Vatican West meddling with politics in another State. Oh…that’s right, Orange County is nearly all Mormon and all the Salt Lake connections to Disneyland can’t be ignored.

At least Affirmation got a reaction in the news. The comments on ksl.com is blisteringly high and likely to melt their server.

By: Jason D

Jason D — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:47:50 +0000

Yeah, Californian’s don’t let this be like Bush vs Gore, don’t rest on your laurels and assume it’s a done deal.

I don’t know if anyone can address this, but I’ve heard rumors that even if a ban passed, it would be nullified because :

A) The Supreme Court ruling in some way nullfies or prohibits amending the CA constitution.

–and or–

B) The CA constitution cannot contradict itself. If it says “equality before the law” in one place, it can’t say “no marriage for gays” in another. Something similar to not being allowed to amend the US constitution to invalidate the Bill of Rights.

By: Timothy Kincaid

Timothy Kincaid — Wed, 28 May 2008 18:45:04 +0000

This may be an odd way to look at this poll, but I’m excited about the polling results of those who are in the opposing groups.

According to this poll:

24% of born again Christians
11% of strongly conservative people
25% of Republicans
38% of residents of the Central Valley
45% of Catholics

all support marriage equality.

“Common knowledge” says that ALL of these folks should oppose gay marriage. That sizeable minorities within these categories support gay marriage tells us a great deal about the future of gay issues as a wedge in politics.

It’s exciting to see this poll. But considering the LA Times poll it’s hard to know what it means. I’ll cautiously celebrate but we must still work very hard to defeat this amendment.

By: werdna

werdna — Wed, 28 May 2008 18:21:47 +0000

Good news! If Arizona could defeat a gay marriage ban, I hope California can too.

But… bad spelling! I caught “votors” and “marraige” (twice). Hopefully all of the numbers were correct.