IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

KAREN L. STRAUSS et al., Petitioners, No. S168047 (Original Action)

v.

MARK B. HORTON, as State Registrar of (Also For S168066 And S168078

Vital Statistics, et al., Respondents; Per Court Order Of Nov. 20, 2008)

DENNIS HOLLINGSW ORTH et al.,

Interveners.

APPLICATION AND BRIEF AMICUS CURIAE OF

SACRAMENTO LAWYERS FOR EQUALITY OF
GAYS AND LESBIANS (“SAC LEGAL”)
IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONERS

Amicus Curiae:

Sacramento Lawyers for Equality of Gays

and Lesbians (“Sac LEGAL”)
1017 L Street #515
Sacramento, CA 95814
[email protected]

Counsel for Amicus Curiae:

S. Michelle May
Certified Appellate Law Specialist
(St. Bar of Calif. - Bd. of Legal Spec.)
State Bar No. 111072
3104 O St. # 245
Sacramento CA 95816
(916) 698-4523
[email protected]
 APPLICATION OF SACRAMENTO LAWYERS FOR
EQUALITY OF GAYS AND LESBIANS TO FILE
BRIEF AMICUS CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONERS

TO THE HONORABLE RONALD M. GEORGE, CHIEF

JUSTICE OF CALIFORNIA, AND TO THE HONORABLE

ASSOCIATE JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA:

Under Rule 8.520(f) of the California Rules of Court, as

modified by this Court’s order of November 19, 2008 in Nos.

S168047, S168066 and S168078, SACRAMENTO LAW YERS FOR

EQUALITY OF GAYS AND LESBIANS (“Sac LEGAL”), respectfully

moves this Honorable Court for permission to file a brief amicus

curiae in support of the petitioners in No. S168047, Karen L. Strauss

et al. The proposed brief amicus curiae is bound with and attached

to this Application.

The proposed brief is submitted under this Court’s order of

November 20, 2008, by which amicus curiae filings submitted in any

one of three lead actions (S168047, S168066, S168078) will be

considered in all. It is therefore also submitted in support of the

petitioners in S168066, Robin Tyler et al., and S168078, City and

County of San Francisco et al.

I
Statement Under Rule 8.520(f)(4)

There are no parties, counsel for parties, persons or entities

under rule 8.520(f)(4). Counsel of record for this proposed brief is its

sole author, and no monetary contributions were made to fund the

preparation or submission of the brief other than by amicus curiae,

its members, or its counsel in this appeal.

Interest of Amicus Curiae

Sacramento Lawyers for Equality of Gays and Lesbians (“Sac

LEGAL”) is the professional association of attorneys, legal

professionals, and legislative advocates for the greater Sacramento

area. Its overall goal is to promote equality for members of the

LGBT (lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender) community, through

leadership, advocacy, education, and participation in civic and social

activities within the legal community and the community at large.

Specifically, Sac LEGAL’s mission statement includes as

among the purposes for the existence of the organization: “To

defend and expand the legal rights of LGBT people, and to secure

for LGBT individuals basic human and civil rights, such as the right to

be free from discrimination.” As such, Sac LEGAL members have a

strong interest in the legal status of LGBT individuals, couples and

families, and in efforts to promote legal equality and

nondiscrimination for the LGBT community.

II
 Sac LEGAL believes this case implicates those goals and

purposes. It construes Proposition 8 as a major retrenchment and

reduction of legal rights of gay people, changing the

nondiscriminatory rules of law which promoted LGBT equality set

forth in the Marriage Cases, into a legal climate that requires official

State discrimination against gay people with a resulting inequality

and second-class status. Sac LEGAL considers this to be highly

injurious to the broader community of gay people, as well as

specifically to those who wish to marry. Its proposed amicus brief

strongly supports the efforts of the petitioners in these cases, and the

Attorney General, who seek to restore California law to the state of

constitutional equality and nondiscrimination that resulted from the

Marriage Cases decision.

Many of Sac LEGAL’s members are also very directly and

personally affected by Proposition 8. Some entered into marriages

between June 16 and November 4, 2008 – one of the subjects of this

Court’s briefing order in this case – but after Proposition 8 live in a

state of uncertainty as to whether their lifelong legal commitments

will be annulled by operation of law. Others wish to marry in the

future – either because they have partners now with whom they wish

to form lifelong legal commitments, or wish to at a later time – but

would be unable to do so if Proposition 8 were held to be valid law.

III
 Sac LEGAL previously participated in the Proposition 8 cases,

as among the many organizations that submitted letters under Rule

8.500(g) asking this Court to exercise its original jurisdiction. Its

letter was lodged in one of the trailing cases, Asian Pacific American

Legal Center et al. v. Horton, No. S168281.

Amicus curiae is familiar with the questions involved in this

case and the scope of their presentation. Its counsel has reviewed all

of the petitioners,’ Attorney General’s and intervenors’ briefs on the

merits in the lead cases in this Court (S168047/168066/168078).

Amicus curiae believes that additional briefing is warranted

and would be helpful to this Court, in this case of extremely high

statewide importance, for the following reasons:

1. The situation in the current case – where this Court has

held a particular act to be violative of numerous provisions of the

state Constitution, and then the state’s legislative authority (here, the

electorate) proceeded to make the same act mandatory under that

Constitution – appears to be unprecedented. Furthermore, unlike

the Marriage Cases, where the applicability vel non of Perez v. Sharp

(1948) 32 Cal.2d 711 would clearly be important to any analysis

because of strong arguments of parallels between the two, here

there appear to be no prior legal parallels to the current situation.

IV
 In a case such as this, raising questions of first impression of

such widespread importance where the Court to an extent may have

to ‘start from scratch,’ amicus believes it would help this Court to see

multiple reasoned approaches to the questions.

2. It appears that neither of amicus’s primary arguments

has been made by any party as of this writing. Specifically:

(a) Amicus’s first argument, a separation of powers

argument, comes from a significantly different perspective than those

of the parties, and no argument like it been filed to date. In addition,

it appears the petitioners so far have devoted comparatively less

analysis to the separation of powers as compared with the revision

vs. amendment question; for example, none of the petitioners’ briefs

has the separation of powers argument going first, and petitioners in

one of the cases do not appear to argue separation of powers as a

stand-alone question. Amicus’s analysis supporting petitioners is

significantly more detailed than any on this question to date.

It also appears that none of the petitioners have addressed the

separation of powers authorities in the Attorney General’s Answer

Brief. Amicus, by contrast, considers those authorities (and others to

like effect that it has supplied) to be completely consistent with its

separation of powers argument, and has discussed those authorities

in some detail.

V
 Amicus believes that the separation of powers question

stands on its own, and presents major issues regarding the role of

the judiciary in our tripartite system. While amicus completely

supports petitioners in all of their arguments, from the somewhat

different perspective of amicus, separation of powers is the place

where the analysis starts. Consequently, amicus has proffered a

thorough argument that Proposition 8 violates the separation of

powers, in that it effectively substitutes the legislative for the judicial

branch as the ultimate arbiter of the meaning of the Constitution, a

function beyond the proper purview of the legislative branch.

Accordingly, amicus believes this argument would be of

significant assistance to this Court, because it goes well beyond any

separation of powers argument made by the parties, and because

separation of powers was one of the areas in which this Court

specifically requested briefing in its order of November 19, 2008.

(b) Amicus’s second argument, a revision vs.

amendment argument, is made in an area in which the parties have

devoted significantly more resources to briefing. Amicus supports

the petitioners’ arguments, and is not seeking to duplicate any of

them. Rather, amicus has offered an extra perspective on the

question which has not been argued by any of the parties, arising

from a line of this Court’s authority beginning with Livermore v. Waite

VI
(1894) 102 Cal. 113. This extra perspective is intended as a

supplement to the petitioners’ arguments, to assist in providing this

Court with a broader understanding of the authorities supportive of

the conclusion that Proposition 8 is an impermissible revision.

(c) Finally, amicus briefly discusses the status of

existing marriages if Proposition 8 is valid. Due to space limitations,

its discussion is limited to a brief statement of reasons and

authorities for the validity of existing marriages irrespective of

Proposition 8, some of which have not been discussed in the parties’

briefs, and a short discussion of the perspectives of this organization

of gay and lesbian attorneys in light of the Marriage Cases.

Counsel for amicus curiae has been involved full-time in

appellate and appellate-related matters for 16 of her 24 years in

practice, and was a civil litigator for another five. Dating back to

1986, she has written briefing on the merits and amicus curiae for

the highest courts of three states including this Court, the U.S.

Second and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeal, and the U.S. Supreme

Court. She is a certified appellate law specialist, certified by the

State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. This proposed

brief represents solely the views of the organization on the brief, and

of counsel of record solely in her capacity as a private individual.

VII
 For all of these reasons, amicus curiae requests that this court

accept the attached brief, and permit Sacramento Lawyers for the

Equality of Gays and Lesbians (“Sac LEGAL”) to appear as amicus

curiae in support of the petitioners.

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State

of California that the facts set forth herein are true and accurate to

the best of my personal knowledge.

Respectfully submitted this 13th day of January, 2009.

S. Michelle May
State Bar No. 111072
Counsel for Amicus Curiae
Sacramento Lawyers for the Equality
of Gays and Lesbians (“Sac LEGAL”)

VIII
 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

KAREN L. STRAUSS et al., Petitioners, No. S168047 (Original Action)

v.

MARK B. HORTON, as State Registrar of (Also For S168066 And S168078

Vital Statistics, et al., Respondents; Per Court Order Of Nov. 20, 2008)

DENNIS HOLLINGSW ORTH et al.,

Interveners.

BRIEF AMICUS CURIAE OF

SACRAMENTO LAWYERS FOR EQUALITY OF
GAYS AND LESBIANS (“SAC LEGAL”)
IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONERS

Amicus Curiae:

Sacramento Lawyers for Equality of Gays

and Lesbians (“Sac LEGAL”)
1017 L Street #515
Sacramento, CA 95814
[email protected]

Counsel for Amicus Curiae:

S. Michelle May
Certified Appellate Law Specialist
(St. Bar of Calif. - Bd. of Legal Spec.)
State Bar No. 111072
3104 O St. # 245
Sacramento CA 95816
(916) 698-4523
[email protected]
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

I. PROPOSITION 8 VIOLATES THE SEPARATION OF POW ERS

CLAUSE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

A. Overview; Nature And Limitations Of Amicus’s Argument. . . . . . . . . 4

1. Limitations: The Electorate Has The Power To
Enact Initiatives Superseding Specific Court
Decisions, As Long As It Stays W ithin The Proper Legislative
Function And Doesn’t Violate Other Constitutional Provisions.4
2. Nature: Analyzing The Precise Means By W hich Proposition 8
W ould Nullify The Marriage Cases
On Same-Sex Marriage Questions.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
B. How Proposition 8 W ould Operate; “Amendment By Implication”. . 13
1. Proposition 8 Does Not Amend The Text Of The
Equal Protection, Privacy, Or Due Process Clauses. . . . . . . 13
2. Proposition 8 Does Not Repeal Those Clauses By Implication1.4
3. Proposition 8 Could Only Be Construed As An “Amendment
By Implication” Of The Equal
Protection, Privacy And Due Process Clauses,
Insofar As This Court Held Those Clauses
Prohibit Marriage Discrimination.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
C. Proposition 8 W ould Block All Branches Of Government
From Following This Court’s Interpretation Of The
Equal Protection, Privacy And Due Process Clauses In
The Marriage Cases, In Violation Of The Separation Of Powers. . . 19
D. Proposition 8 W ould Also Unconstitutionally Interfere W ith
The Judicial Power As To Same-Sex Couples That Ask
The Judiciary To Enforce The Equal Protection, Privacy,
Due Process, Or Similar Clauses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

i
 1. Can Proposition 8 Strip The Courts Of The Power
To Effect A Remedy For Unconstitutional
Discrimination Under The Marriage Cases, W hile Leaving
Intact The Power To Hear Such Cases?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
a. Marbury v. Madison and Mandel v. Myers – Prohibition
Against Stripping The Judiciary Of
The Power To Award A Remedy For
Deprivation Of An Adjudicated Right. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
b. Prohibition Against Relegating The Judiciary
To Rendering Advisory Opinions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2. Can Proposition 8 Require A Court To Rule That
Governmental Refusal To Recognize The Marriage
Of A Same-Sex Couple Complies With The Equal Protection,
Privacy, And Due Process Clauses?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3. Can Proposition 8 Prohibit A Court From Ruling That
Governmental Refusal To Recognize The Marriage
Of A Same-Sex Couple Violates The Equal
Protection, Privacy, Or Due Process Clauses?. . . . . . . . . . . 31
a. Generally. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
b. Specific Encroachments On The Power Of
The Judiciary To Construe The Constitution. . . . . . . . 33
i. Disabling The Courts From Applying
The Doctrine Of Stare Decisis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
ii. Prohibiting The Courts From Utilizing
The Compelling State Interest Test And Strict
Scrutiny In Cases Involving
Same-Sex Marriage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
iii. Utilizing The Rational Basis Test, Or
Any Other Standard Below Strict
Scrutiny, Even If This Court Might
Have Otherwise Concluded That
Proposition 8 Violated It. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
iv. Applying The Uniform Operation Clause (Art. IV,
Sec. 16), Or The Privileges And Immunities
Clause (Art. I, Sec. 7(b)).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
E. Conclusion To Part I. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

ii
II. PROPOSITION 8 IS A CONSTITUTIONAL REVISION, W HICH
CANNOT BE EFFECTUATED BY INITIATIVE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

A. Separation Of Powers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
B. Proposition 8 Fails The “Betterment Of Purpose”
Requirement For Constitutional Amendments, Set Forth
In This Court’s Opinions In Livermore v. Waite And
Its Progeny. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
1. Overview; The “Betterment Of Purpose”
Requirement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2. W ays In W hich Proposition 8 Fails The Betterment
Of Purpose Requirement, Including Contravening Purposes
For W hich The Original Instrument W as Framed.. . . . . . . . . 43
a. Impairment Of Core Judicial Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . 44
b. Derogation From The Core Guarantee Of
Equal Protection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
c. Alienation Of Rights Previously Guaranteed
By The Inalienable Rights Clause, And
Previously Found To Be Inalienable.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
d. Grant Of Special Privileges To One Class
W hile Discriminatorily Denying Those
Privileges To Another. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
e. Apart From The Above, Nothing About Proposition 8
Better Carries Out The Purposes For W hich Our
Constitution W as Framed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
C. Proposition 8 Is An Unlawful Revision On Each Of The
Bases In Part II(B)(2)(a)-(d) Above.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

CODA (RE: EXISTING MARRIAGES). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

A. W hat If, Hypothetically, Proposition 8 W ere Valid?

(In Brief). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
B. Further Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

CONCLUSION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

DECLARATION OF W ORD COUNT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

DECLARATION OF SERVICE BY MAIL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x

iii
 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
CASES

Amador Valley Joint Union H.S. Dist. v. State Bd.

of Equalization (1978) 22 Cal.3d 208. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

American Lung Ass’n v. Wilson (1996) 51 Cal.App.4th 743. . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Arnold v. City of San Jose (1889) 81 Cal. 618. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Auto Equity Sales, Inc. v. Superior Court (1962) 57 Cal.2d 450. . . . . . . . 32

Billings v. Hall (1857) 7 Cal. 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Bixby v. Pierno (1971) 4 Cal.3d 130.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43, 44, 64

Boca Mill Co. v. Curry (1908) 154 Cal. 326. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Bowers v. Superior Court (1991) 1 Cal.4th 36. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 8

Bramberg v. Jones (1999) 20 Cal.4th 1045. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Brown v. Board of Education (1954) 347 U.S. 483.. . . . . . . . . . 1, 58, 63, 65

Brown v. City of Los Angeles (1920) 183 Cal. 783.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Cacho v. Boudreau (2007) 40 Cal.4th 341. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

California Correctional Peace Officers Ass’n v.

Dep’t of Corrections (1999) 72 Cal.App.4th 1331.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Cooper v. Aaron (1958) 358 U.S. 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 35

County of San Bernardino v. Ind’l Acc. Comm.

(1933) 217 Cal. 618, 629. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Creighton v. Pragg (1862) 21 Cal. 115.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Dep’t of Mental Hygiene v. Kirchner (1965) 62 Cal.2d 586. . . . . . . . . 44, 50

Dwyer v. City Council (1927) 200 Cal. 505.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Evangelatos v. Superior Court (1988) 44 Cal.3d 1188.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

iv
Ex Parte Drexel (1905) 147 Cal. 763. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Ex Parte Jentzsch (1896) 112 Cal. 468. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47, 49, 51

Ex Parte Smith (1869) 38 Cal. 702.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38, 53

Follansbee v. Benzenberg (1954) 122 Cal.App.2d 466. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Frost v. Witter (1901) 132 Cal. 421. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

General Motors Corp. v. City and County of San Francisco

(1999) 69 Cal.App.4th 448. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Guy v. Hermance (1855) 5 Cal. 73.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Haight v. Gay (1857) 8 Cal. 297. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Hill v. National Collegiate Athletic Ass’n (1994) 7 Cal.4th 1. . . . . . . . . . . . 45

In re Antazo (1970) 3 Cal.3d 100. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

In re Lance W. (1985) 37 Cal.3d 873. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 7, 8

In re Marriage Cases (2008) 43 Cal.4th 757. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . passim

In re Marriage of Peters (1997) 52 Cal.App.4th 1487.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

In re Miller (1912) 162 Cal. 687. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

In re Sturm (1974) 11 Cal.3d 258. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

In re Sutter-Butte By-Pass Assessment (1923) 190 Cal. 532. . . . . . . . . . 34

Independent Energy Producers Ass’n v. McPherson

(2006) 38 Cal.4th 1020.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

ITT World Communications, Inc. v. City and County

of San Francisco (1985) 37 Cal.3d 859. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Keeler v. Superior Court (1970) 2 Cal.3d 619. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Livermore v. Waite (1894) 102 Cal. 113.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . passim

v
Loving v. Virginia (1967) 388 U.S. 1.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Mandel v. Myers (1981) 29 Cal.3d 531. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26, 29, 34, 39

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 19, 25, 26, 27, 64

McClung v. Employment Dev’t Dep’t (2004) 34 Cal.4th 467. . . . . . . . . . . 19

McFadden v. Jordan (1948) 32 Cal.2d 330. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Metropolitan Water Dist. v. County of Riverside

(1943) 21 Cal.2d 640. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Meyerfield v. South San Joaquin Irrigation Dist.

(1935) 3 Cal.2d 409. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Mulkey v. Reitman (1966) 64 Cal.2d 529. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 37, 65

Myers v. Philip Morris Cos. (2002) 28 Cal.4th 828. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Nougues v. Douglass (1857) 7 Cal. 65.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 19, 22

Pacific Legal Foundation v. California Coastal Commission

(1983) 33 Cal.3d 158. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Peatros v. Bank of America NT & SA (2000) 22 Cal.4th 147. . . . . . . . . . . 17

People v. Birks (1998) 19 Cal.4th 108. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

People v. Frierson (1979) 25 Cal.3d 142. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 8

People v. Garcia (2006) 39 Cal.4th 1070. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

People v. Jordan (1884) 65 Cal. 644. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

People v. Wells (1852) 2 Cal. 198. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

People ex rel. Lynch v. Superior Court (1970) 1 Cal.3d 910. . . . . . . . . . . 28

Perez v. Sharp (1948) 32 Cal.2d 711. . . . . . . . . 1, 19, 46, 49, 53, 58, 63, 65

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) 163 U.S. 537. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

vi
Professional Engineers in California Gov’t v. Kempton
(2007) 40 Cal.4th 1016.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 16

Raven v. Deukmejian (1990) 52 Cal.3d 336.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 18, 40, 41

Romer v. Evans (1996) 517 U.S. 620.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36, 56

Roystone Co. v. Darling (1915) 171 Cal. 526.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Sail’er Inn v. Kirby (1971) 5 Cal.3d 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Sei Fujii v. State (1952) 38 Cal.2d 718 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Seymour v. McEvoy (1898) 121 Cal. 438.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Sheehy v. Shinn (1894) 103 Cal. 325.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Smith v. Judge of the Twelfth Judicial District

(1861) 17 Cal. 547. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38, 44, 50

Strauder v. West Virginia (1880) 100 U.S. 303. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Tinsley v. Superior Court (1983) 150 Cal.App.3d 90. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 7, 8

United States v. Klein (1872) 80 U.S. (13 W all.) 128. . . . . . . . . . . 29, 30, 34

Wallace v. Zinman (1927) 200 Cal. 585. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Yick Wo v. Hopkins (1886) 118 U.S. 356. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

CONSTITUTIONS

Cal. Const., Art. I, sec. 1.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . passim

Cal. Const., Art. I, sec. 7.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . passim

Cal. Const., Art. I, sec. 7.5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . passim

Cal. Const., Art. I, sec. 9.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Cal. Const., Art. III, sec. 3.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . passim

Cal. Const., Art. IV, sec. 16. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21, 37, 44, 50

vii
Cal. Const., Art. VI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . passim

Cal. Const., Art. XIII, sec. 19. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Cal. Const., Art. XIII-A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Cal. Const., Art. XVIII. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . passim

Cal. Const., Art. XX, sec. 3.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

U.S. Const., Art. I, sec. 10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

STATUTES

Fam. Code, § 308.5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 17, 33, 36

Fam. Code, § 771.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

OTHER AUTHORITIES

2008 Official General Election Voter Information Guide,

Arguments for Proposition 8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61, 63

=======

This application and proposed brief represents solely the views of the
organization on the brief, and of counsel of record solely in her capacity as
a private individual.

viii
INTRODUCTION

This case presents an institutional collision between the

legislative and judicial powers of government, perhaps as drastic a

separation of powers problem as this Court has seen in decades. It

is, in many ways, a modern-day version of Marbury v. Madison

(1803) 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137.

Apart from striking at the essence of our tripartite system of

government, this case deeply affects everyone in California with a

same-sex orientation and their families, millions of people by any

authoritative estimate. Derivatively, it affects all Californians, as it

affects the courts’ ability to adjudicate vital issues about the society

we live in – raising questions about whether discrimination and other

practices that this Court holds to violate our Constitution can be

transformed by majority vote to become permissible, and even

mandatory. One scarcely need wonder what would have happened

to Brown v. Board of Education (1954) 347 U.S. 483, Perez v. Sharp

(1948) 32 Cal.2d 711 [4-3 opinion], Sei Fujii v. State (1952) 38

Cal.2d 718 [4-3 opinion] or Yick Wo v. Hopkins (1886) 118 U.S. 356,

had such landmark decisions been submitted to voters of those

times. But one can certainly wonder about the judiciary’s role, if its

decisions interpreting our Constitution are open to voter nullification.

1
 However, after a controversial advertising campaign, a

majority of voters said they want just that – an act of government,

profoundly and personally aimed at the hearts and lives of an

“historically disfavored minority group” (In re Marriage Cases (2008)

43 Cal.4th 757, 854 [“Marriage Cases”]) that has long been a target

of “widespread disparagement” (id. at p. 846), which purports to

reinterpret our Equal Protection, Privacy and Due Process Clauses

by legislatively trumping this Court’s interpretation of those

provisions.

That, however, cannot suffice to disable the judiciary from its

Article VI role as final authority for interpretation of our Constitution.

W hether one agreed or disagreed with the original Marriage

Cases decision, all can presumably agree: The separation of

powers is an immutable component of our system of government. It

is not open to selective repudiation by popular vote. (Accord

Marriage Cases, 43 Cal.4th at p. 860 [conc. opn. of Kennard, J.]

[“W hether an unconstitutional denial of a fundamental right has

occurred is not a matter to be decided by the executive or legislative

branch, or by popular vote, but is instead an issue of constitutional

law for resolution by the judicial branch of state government.”])

These principles of our tripartite system of government are not

“antidemocratic.” They are at the heart of American democracy.

2
 Because Proposition 8 purports to substitute the legislative

power for the judicial as the final arbiter of the meaning of the Equal

Protection, Privacy, and Due Process Clauses of our Constitution, it

violates the Separation of Powers Clause of Article III. In addition

and separately, under this Court’s opinion in Livermore v. Waite

(1894) 102 Cal. 113 and its progeny, and also in light of the core

constitutional functions with which it interferes, Proposition 8 violates

the revision provisions of Article XVIII.

3
I. PROPOSITION 8 VIOLATES THE SEPARATION OF
POWERS CLAUSE

A. Overview; Nature And Limitations Of Amicus’s Argument

1. Limitations: The Electorate Has The Power To Enact

Initiatives Superseding Specific Court Decisions, As
Long As It Stays Within The Proper Legislative Function
And Doesn’t Violate Other Constitutional Provisions

In the initiative process, the electorate exercises legislative

power – the power of lawmaking. (Professional Engineers in

California Gov’t v. Kempton (2007) 40 Cal.4th 1016, 1042;

Independent Energy Producers Ass’n v. McPherson (2006) 38

Cal.4th 1020, 1033; Mulkey v. Reitman (1966) 64 Cal.2d 529, 542.)

The Separation of Powers Clause (Art. III, sec. 3) provides that the

legislative power is separate from the judicial. Consequently, the

electorate, in its legislative capacity, is subject to the same

separation of powers restrictions as the Legislature.

This points toward one reason why Proposition 8 is

unconstitutional – it is a use of legislative power to prohibit all

branches of government from giving legal effect to this Court’s

interpretations of our Constitution prohibiting marriage discrimination,

in the Marriage Cases.1 Facially, that gives every indication of

1
References in Parts I and II of this brief, and its
Introduction and Conclusion, to Proposition 8 affecting either this
Court’s interpretation of the state Constitution in the Marriage Cases
or the validity of same-sex marriages, are intended to apply only in
(continued...)

4
making the legislative rather than the judicial branch the ultimate

interpreter of the Constitution, which is clearly impermissible. (E.g.,

Nougues v. Douglass (1857) 7 Cal. 65, 70.)2

To show why Proposition 8 violates the Separation of Powers

Clause, amicus first analyzes how Proposition 8 would have to

operate. This discussion is based on the fact that in the Marriage

Cases, this Court held the statutory prohibition against same-sex

marriage violated three state constitutional provisions – the Equal

Protection Clause (id. at p. 854); the Due Process Clause (id. at pp.

829, 854); and the Inalienable Rights Clause, most notably including

the Privacy Clause (id. at p. 829).

1
(...continued)
the alternative to marriages validily contracted prior to November 5,
2008. Amicus concurs strongly with the petitioners and the Attorney
General that Proposition 8 does not affect the validity or
recognizability of pre-Nov. 5, 2008 marriages, and nothing in this
brief is intended to affect that concurrence (see post, Coda). The
points in Arguments I and II and the Introduction and Conclusion are
intended to show that Proposition 8 is invalid as to all marriages,
without at all agreeing that even if hypothetically valid, Proposition 8
would have any effect on existing marriages.
2
Proposition 8 does not purport to alter the Separation of
Powers Clause to make fundamental changes in the boundaries
between the legislative and judicial branches. Even if it had, such a
radical change in the nature of California’s judicial power could only
have been accomplished by constitutional revision. (See Raven v.
Deukmejian (1990) 52 Cal.3d 336, 352-355.)

5
 Amicus also wishes to make clear what it is not arguing, and

what it agrees the legislative branch – including the electorate, by

initiative – can permissibly do in superseding a judicial opinion.

Amicus agrees that mere rules of judicial procedure or

evidence may be amended or repealed by the electorate in a

nondiscriminatory, neutral initiative, even if that supersedes a

decision of this Court, because the legislative power includes

regulating modes of procedure and evidence. (E.g., In re Lance W.

(1985) 37 Cal.3d 873, 891-892 [1982 Proposition 8 permissibly

abrogated a “judicially created rule of evidence” permitting criminal

defendants to seek evidentiary suppression based on third parties’

interests].) Amicus also agrees that the electorate can eliminate

nondiscriminatorily one of many effective remedies for an

unconstitutional practice (see, e.g., Tinsley v. Superior Court (1983)

150 Cal.App.3d 90, 99-100, 109-110 [construing 1979 Proposition 1,

which did so for de facto segregation that violated the state

Constitution]), because the legislative branch can modify or restrict

existing remedies, provided an effective means of enforcing the

underlying right remains and no vested rights are impaired. (County

of San Bernardino v. Ind’l Acc. Comm. (1933) 217 Cal. 618, 629.)

6
 These examples merely reiterate the voters’ power to pass

nondiscriminatory, neutral initiatives in proper areas of legislation,

even if that supersedes a previously authoritative judicial opinion. It

is the proper power of lawmaking, which doesn’t encroach on the

judicial power of final law-interpreting.

Therefore, amicus isn’t contending that “the initiative process

may never be used to abrogate legal holdings announced by this

Court” (Atty. Gen. Br., p. 56). Clearly it can, when the initiative

process nondiscriminatorily and neutrally stays within recognized

legislative bounds. Lance W. and Tinsley, discussed above, pass

that test. So do the two initiative amendment cases cited by the

Attorney General on this topic (Atty. Gen. Br., pp. 56-57): People v.

Frierson (1979) 25 Cal.3d 142, upheld the 1972 death penalty

initiative (id. at pp. 186-187), well within the legislative function of

enacting nondiscriminatory laws for criminal punishment (see Keeler

v. Superior Court (1970) 2 Cal.3d 619, 631); and Bowens v. Superior

Court (1991) 1 Cal.4th 36, upheld the 1990 initiative abolition of

postindictment preliminary hearings (id. at p. 39), well within the

legislative function of nondiscriminatorily regulating judicial

procedure (see Lance W., supra, 37 Cal.3d at p. 891).

7
 But the analysis has an extra layer when an initiative

amendment (or any other legislation) is discriminatory or nonneutral.

In those cases, it isn’t enough that the initiative operates within a

recognized legislative area. Even if so, one must also determine

whether the discrimination violates other provisions of the

Constitution, such as the Equal Protection or Due Process Clauses.

That makes this case far different from those cited above (Lance W.,

Tinsley, Frierson and Bowens).

As an extreme hypothetical for illustration, if the 1972 death

penalty initiative had been restricted solely to people with brown

eyes, the initiative wouldn’t be automatically valid based on the fact

that criminal sentencing is a proper legislative area, as it would be

subject to challenge under the Equal Protection, Due Process, or

Inalienable Rights Clauses. Similarly, if the 1990 initiative abolishing

postindictment preliminary hearings had applied only to people who

earned under $50,000 in the previous year, it wouldn’t suffice to say

that regulating court procedure is a proper legislative area, because

of the inevitable equal protection and due process challenges.

8
 Not every form of discrimination will invalidate an initiative or

other legislation; each such form is adjudged on its own. But a

discriminatory initiative still must comport with all constitutional

provisions by which discriminatory legislation would be tested.

Marriage can certainly be a proper subject for legislative

regulation, and therefore for neutral, nondiscriminatory initiatives. If

for example, the electorate passed an initiative amendment providing

that a date of separation under Family Code section 771 must be

established by clear and convincing evidence, by the party who

seeks to have property adjudicated as separate, that would likely be

proper – even though it would supersede an authoritative

pronouncement of the judicial branch to the contrary (see In re

Marriage of Peters (1997) 52 Cal.App.4th 1487). Such a regulation

of judicial procedure relating to marriage is certainly a proper field for

legislation, and a nondiscriminatory initiative of that nature should

present no other constitutional questions.

Proposition 8, however, is not a nondiscriminatory, neutral

“regulation of marriage.” Its very essence is discriminatory; indeed, it

defines marriage in discriminatory terms. Because it is nonneutral

and discriminatory as to people whom this Court have held are

similarly situated (see Marriage Cases, 43 Cal.4th at p. 831, fn. 54),

we get to the second layer of analysis – namely, determining

9
whether the discrimination violates the Equal Protection or Due

Process Clauses, or any other provision of the Constitution.

If that analysis were performed, it would be easy. This Court

already performed it in the Marriage Cases, when it held the same

law in statutory form violated the Equal Protection, Due Process, and

Privacy Clauses. Therefore, if this Court is empowered to perform

this second layer of analysis – determining whether a discriminatory

initiative violates other provisions of the Constitution – Proposition 8

would fail.

Consequently, for Proposition 8 to survive, this Court (and

every other) must be disabled from performing that second layer of

analysis. Otherwise, Proposition 8 runs headlong into the Marriage

Cases, and cannot survive the crash.

Proposition 8 purports to disable the judiciary in just that

manner. Far from mere regulation of procedure or remedy,

Proposition 8 is a wholesale repudiation of this Court’s authoritative

interpretation of what is a governmental tort (unlawful discrimination)

under three different provisions of our Constitution that have never

changed. It is, quite literally, the electorate – in its legislative

capacity, displacing the judicial branch – proclaiming itself the

ultimate arbiter of the meaning of our Equal Protection, Privacy, and

Due Process Clauses.

10
 It may be unprecedented for a state’s legislative authority to

write official discrimination into its Constitution, after the state’s

highest court found the same discriminatory practice to violate its

Constitution. Amicus is certainly unaware of any California

precedent supporting it.

To do that, Proposition 8 has to render a practice of official

discrimination constitutional, when this Court already held it

unconstitutional under provisions that remain intact (the Equal

Protection, Privacy and Due Process Clauses); and, it must trump

this Court’s holding. This implicates principles of judicial

independence which have been integral to California jurisprudence

and the governmental structure since earliest statehood, and to

American jurisprudence and government for over two centuries.

2. Nature: Analyzing The Precise Means By W hich

Proposition 8 W ould Nullify The Marriage Cases On
Same-Sex Marriage Questions

If the Marriage Cases were not nullified on same-sex marriage

questions, then Proposition 8 would fail the compelling state interest

test and strict judicial scrutiny, and would be found under the

Marriage Cases to violate the Equal Protection, Privacy, and Due

Process Clauses. It is, after all, the same law as its statutory

counterpart, Family Code section 308.5, which this Court found

unconstitutional on the above grounds in the Marriage Cases.

11
 So to be effective, Proposition 8 must interfere with judicial

adjudication of same-sex marriage cases by (i) ensuring the courts

cannot effectuate this Court’s opinion in the Marriage Cases, and (ii)

requiring all branches of government to follow Proposition 8 rather

than the Marriage Cases for interpretation of the Equal Protection,

Privacy, and Due Process Clauses of the state Constitution.

But, how? How can Proposition 8 disable the judiciary – and

all other branches of government – from invoking the Marriage

Cases, when such invocation would result in Proposition 8 being

declared unconstitutional under the Equal Protection, Due Process,

and Privacy Clauses, as its statutory predecessor was?

To do so, one must first ask and analyze a more basic

question: How, exactly, would Proposition 8 work? By what precise

legal mechanism would it purport to achieve its goal of eradicating

what this Court held to be a “basic, inalienable civil right” (Marriage

Cases, 43 Cal.4th at p. 781)?

The Attorney General’s separation of powers discussion (Atty.

Gen. Br., at pp. 59-61) doesn’t reach this question. Rather, its focus

is to demonstrate that “it is not impermissible for the voters, when

done through a valid amendment, to exercise their authority through

the initiative process to alter legal pronouncements issued by the

courts.” (Atty. Gen. Br., at p. 61.) As discussed above, amicus fully

12
agrees, in cases – such as those the Attorney General cites – where

the initiative power is used to perform traditional legislative functions

nondiscriminatorily and neutrally. But that isn’t this case.

Amicus therefore turns to the question: How, exactly, would

Proposition 8 work?

B. How Proposition 8 W ould Operate; “Amendment By

Implication”

1. Proposition 8 Does Not Amend The Text Of The Equal

Protection, Privacy, Or Due Process Clauses

Proposition 8 was not written into the Privacy, Equal

Protection, or Due Process Clauses of our Constitution. It is

numbered Article I, section 7.5, a different provision than the Privacy,

Equal Protection, or Due Process Clauses. Nothing in the text of

Proposition 8 purports to amend any of those clauses. Nor do the

initiative’s voter materials hint at anything so drastic; none of the

above clauses is discussed, and voters weren’t asked if they wanted

to diminish these long-standing, vital protections of our organic law.

13
 Article I, section 7.5 therefore stands on its own, while every

other provision of the Constitution is textually unaffected. Instead of

textually amending the Equal Protection, Privacy and Due Process

Clauses, Proposition 8 sets up an irreconcilable conflict with this

Court’s interpretation of those provisions in the Marriage Cases.3

2. Proposition 8 Does Not Repeal Those Clauses By

Implication

Nor is Proposition 8 an implied repeal of the Privacy, Equal

Protection, or Due Process Clauses. That seems self-evident.

3
Amicus need not analyze the hypothetical of what might
have happened had the opponents of marriage equality instead
created an initiative for textual alteration of the Equal Protection,
Privacy and Due Process Clauses, to write this type of discrimination
against lesbians, gay men and their families expressly into each of
those clauses. That option was never presented to the voters, so it
shouldn’t be relevant here. One could speculate that many voters
might have been chary of supporting such a hypothetical initiative,
since they would then have been told that specific constitutional
protections of individual liberty – which have been used to protect
other traditionally disempowered groups through much of our state’s
history, and to this day – were being textually diminished in our
Constitution, for the sole purpose of making marriage discrimination
a constitutional mandate. Voters might well have decided these
fundamental protections weren’t worth diminishing for this purpose,
e.g., because of a strong belief in the sanctity of those provisions, or
to avoid the slippery slope of what protections of individual liberty,
equality, or human dignity might be legislatively stripped from our
Constitution next. Furthermore, for the reasons in Part II, post, and
those offered by the petitioners and the Attorney General, any such
textual alteration would have been an unconstitutional revision in any
event. It would also have raised issues under other (unamended)
constitutional provisions. But since Proposition 8 didn’t do this,
amicus needn’t speculate further on such “what ifs.”

14
Presumably, its proponents would not claim a result so drastic as an

implied wholesale repeal of those basic organic laws.

“So strong is the presumption against implied repeals that

when a new enactment conflicts with an existing provision, ‘In order

for the second law to repeal or supersede the first, the former must

constitute a revision of the entire subject, so that the court may say

that it was intended to be a substitute for the first.’ [Citation.]” (ITT

World Communications, Inc. v. City and County of San Francisco

(1985) 37 Cal.3d 859, 866 [because Article XIII-A was not a revision

of the entire subject of taxation, but merely amended the Constitution

on some aspects of real property taxation, it did not impliedly repeal

Article III, section 19].)

Proposition 8 is not a revision of the entire subject of equal

protection, privacy, or due process. It leaves intact many such

guarantees (though more for people who aren’t gay or in gay

people’s families). Therefore, Proposition 8 does not repeal the

Equal Protection, Privacy or Due Process Clauses impliedly.4

4
Had Proposition 8 been such a revision of the entire
field of equal protection, privacy or due process, it would
undoubtedly be unconstitutional as a violation of Article XVIII; it
seems self-evident that total abrogation of three of the most
important individual rights provisions of our Constitution would
require a revision and couldn’t be done by mere amendment.
Amicus assumes this hypothetical is too obvious, and too far from
reality here, to warrant further discussion.

15
 3. Proposition 8 Could Only Be Construed As An
“Amendment By Implication” Of The Equal Protection,
Privacy And Due Process Clauses, Insofar As This
Court Held Those Clauses Prohibit Marriage
Discrimination

Because Proposition 8 is not an express textual repeal or

amendment of the Equal Protection, Privacy or Due Process

Clauses, and does not repeal them by implication, the only

alternative is that it would have to “amend by implication” those

clauses as construed in the Marriage Cases.

Amendments by implication are recognized only in the

absence of another rational way to harmonize the provisions in

question. (Cacho v. Boudreau (2007) 40 Cal.4th 341, 352.) Here,

there appears to be no rational way to harmonize the provisions,

because Proposition 8 reflects a “clear intent by the electorate to

supersede prior law” (Professional Engineers in California Gov’t v.

Kempton, supra, 40 Cal.4th at p. 1039).

Consequently, Proposition 8 can only operate by “amending

by implication” the Privacy, Equal Protection and Due Process

Clauses, to the extent those clauses had required official recognition

of same-sex marriages – including judicial recognition – as valid and

equal to opposite-sex marriages before November 5, 2008. That in

turn would require nullifying (prospectively) the effect of this Court’s

opinion in the Marriage Cases, because if the Marriage Cases could

16
be given effect, Proposition 8 would suffer the same constitutional

infirmities as Family Code section 308.5. It is, after all, the same

law, only this time written into the Constitution.

An “amendment by implication” is not an actual, textual

amendment. It is merely a means of resolving conflicts among

irreconcilably competing enactments, providing that the later

enactment controls over the earlier to the extent necessary to

resolve the conflict. (Peatros v. Bank of America NT & SA (2000) 22

Cal.4th 147, 167-168; California Correctional Peace Officers Ass’n v.

Dep’t of Corrections (1999) 72 Cal.App.4th 1331, 1339; see also

American Lung Ass’n v. Wilson (1996) 51 Cal.App.4th 743, 752

[conc. opn. of Blease, J., joined by Scotland, J.].) All of the

competing enactments remain textually intact. What changes is how

some are construed.

Since it doesn’t textually amend the Equal Protection, Privacy

or Due Process Clauses, and doesn’t repeal by implication any of

those provisions, Proposition 8 can only change the way the Equal

Protection, Privacy and Due Process Clauses are construed. It

would have to block all branches of government from applying the

Equal Protection, Privacy, or Due Process Clauses in the manner

required by the Marriage Cases. It would have to resolve the conflict

among constitutional provisions by mandating that this Court’s

17
interpretations of the Equal Protection, Privacy and Due Process

Clauses in the Marriage Cases must be deemed ineffective as to

same-sex marriages. Otherwise, Proposition 8 would collide with the

Marriage Cases, and couldn’t survive the collision.5

As discussed below, Proposition 8 “amends by implication” not

only the Equal Protection, Privacy and Due Process Clauses, but

also the Marriage Cases’ authoritative pronouncement of the judicial

branch on the meaning of those constitutional provisions. It does the

former solely by doing the latter. A legislative act, however, cannot

permissibly “amend” – whether by implication or otherwise – a

judicial interpretation of the meaning of constitutional provisions that

have otherwise remained intact.

C. Proposition 8 W ould Block All Branches Of Government From

Following This Court’s Interpretations Of The Equal Protection,
Privacy And Due Process Clauses In The Marriage Cases, In
Violation Of The Separation Of Powers

Under the Article VI judicial power, the judicial branch – not the

legislative – is the ultimate arbiter of the meaning of our Constitution.

(People v. Birks (1998) 19 Cal.4th 108, 117; Raven v. Deukmejian

5
Aspects of the Marriage Cases decision not intrinsically
bound up with marriage equality – for example, the application of
strict scrutiny and the compelling state interest test to classifications
based on relational (sexual) orientation, or the exegesis of law on the
fundamental nature of the right to marry (as applied to anyone other
than a same-sex couple) – would remain unaffected in cases not
involving same-sex marriages, as Proposition 8 is not inherently
inconsistent with them.

18
(1990) 52 Cal.3d 336, 354; Nougues v. Douglass, supra, 7 Cal. at p.

70.) “‘It is, emphatically, the province and duty of the judicial

department, to say what the law is.’ (Marbury v. Madison (1803) 5

U.S. 137, 177 [2 L. Ed. 60].)” (McClung v. Employment Dev’t Dep’t

(2004) 34 Cal.4th 467, 469-470.)

Concomitantly, a legislative authority cannot be the final arbiter

of the Constitution’s meaning. Granted, as discussed above, a

legislative authority can sometimes change the Constitution within

the proper bounds of nondiscriminatory legislation – but this case

doesn’t involve nondiscriminatory legislation. And in any event, the

authority to be the final interpreter of the meaning of constitutional

provisions is not within the proper bounds of the lawmaking power.

The Marriage Cases may have been “only” a 4-3 decision, but

for Article VI judicial power, it doesn’t matter if the vote was 4-3 or 7-

0 or anything in between. (Compare Perez v. Sharp, supra, 32

Cal.2d 711 [also 4-3].) It was still the decision of this Court, binding

on all branches of government as a matter of Article VI judicial

power. (Accord Arnold v. City of San Jose (1889) 81 Cal. 618, 620

[with conc. opns. of W orks and Fox, JJ.].)

Consequently, after the Marriage Cases, same-sex couples

who sought to marry but were not parties to the Marriage Cases did

not have to file lawsuits. They could still utilize the Marriage Cases,

19
because the officers of every branch of government are sworn to

uphold our Constitution (Art. XX, sec. 3), which includes following the

decisions of the judicial branch on the meaning of the Constitution.

Since as discussed above, this Court under Article VI is

required to be the ultimate arbiter of the meaning of our Constitution,

and has final authority to “say what the law is,” the executive and

legislative branches were duty-bound after the Marriage Cases to

effectuate this Court’s decision – that governmental prohibition of

same-sex marriage is unlawful discrimination which violates our

Equal Protection, Privacy, and Due Process Clauses. This is further

reflected in the Marriage Cases disposition, where this Court

permitted petitioners to marry on the same basis as an opposite-sex

couple, then did the same for all other qualifying same-sex couples,

and directed state and local officials to do everything necessary to

make it happen. (See id., 43 Cal.4th at pp. 856-857.)

Proposition 8 turns that on its head. It tells the executive,

legislative and judicial branches that they cannot follow the judicial

branch’s authoritative exposition of what the Equal Protection,

Privacy and Due Process Clauses mean, after this Court in the

Marriage Cases performed its judicial duties of “say[ing] what the law

is,” and acting as ultimate arbiter of the meaning of our Constitution.

20
 Instead, Proposition 8 requires that all officials of state

government follow the electorate’s exposition of “what the law is,” the

electorate’s “interpretation” of our Constitution, acting in its legislative

capacity. Proposition 8 requires that by legislative fiat – and contrary

to this Court’s mandate in the Marriage Cases – California

government officials must conclude that (i) state discrimination

against lesbians and gay men as to marriage is consistent with the

Equal Protection Clause, Inalienable Rights Clause including privacy,

Due Process Clause, Uniform Operation Clause, and every other

clause in the state Constitution (whether or not specifically

addressed in the Marriage Cases); and based on that, (ii) such

discrimination is not only permissible, it is mandatory.

In other words, if Proposition 8 were valid, then a majority of

voters, not the judicial branch, would be the ultimate arbiter of the

meaning of the Equal Protection, Privacy and Due Process Clauses

of our Constitution.

This cannot be. Given that this Court’s power as ultimate

arbiter of the meaning of our Constitution and its duty to “say what

the law is” with final authority are part of the Article VI judicial power,

as the opinions discussed herein – and many more – make clear, the

legislative power cannot trump the judicial in the interpretation of the

Equal Protection, Privacy and Due Process Clauses.

21
 “The several departments were intended to be kept separate

and distinct, within their proper spheres. . . . [T]o say that the

judiciary have no power to protect themselves from legislative

interference, would be to confess our own abject weakness, and

acknowledge a power in the legislative branch of government more

colossal than that of the British Parliament itself.” (People v. Wells

(1852) 2 Cal. 198, 213-214.)

That is particularly true in constitutional interpretation. This

Court has made clear from early statehood that the judicial branch’s

power to construe the Constitution is the sole power of last resort:

The Constitution is itself a law, and must be construed by

some one. Each department must be kept within its
appropriate sphere. There must, then, from the very nature of
the case, be a power lodged somewhere in the government to
construe the Constitution in the last resort. The different
departments cannot be each left the sole and conclusive judge
of its own powers. If such was the case, these departments
must always contest and always be in conflict; and this cannot
be the case in a constitutional government, practically administered.

The judiciary, from the very nature of its powers and the
means given it by the Constitution, must possess the right to
construe the Constitution in the last resort, in those cases not
expressly, or by necessary implication, reserved to the other
departments. It would be idle to make the Constitution the
supreme law, and then require the judges to take the oath to
support it, and after all that, require the Courts to take the
legislative construction as correct.

(Nougues v. Douglass, supra, 7 Cal. at p. 70.)

22
 This Court can only preserve its role as final authority on the

meaning of our Constitution, by holding that the electorate’s

“interpretation” of the Equal Protection, Due Process and Privacy

Clauses in Proposition 8 must yield to the judiciary’s authoritative

interpretation of those clauses in the Marriage Cases.

This case is about the electorate’s legislative declaration of

what is and is not a substantive legal wrong under the Constitution.

Under Proposition 8, what this Court held to be an impermissibly

discriminatory practice, in violation of at least three different

provisions of our Constitution, has been legislatively redefined as

permissible and violative of none of those three provisions of the

state Constitution – and then, it has been made mandatory on all

branches of government. This goes far over the line dividing

legislative from judicial power.

On this basis alone, Proposition 8 violates the Separation of

Powers Clause.

23
D. Proposition 8 W ould Also Unconstitutionally Interfere W ith The
Judicial Power As To Same-Sex Couples That Ask The
Judiciary To Enforce The Equal Protection, Privacy, Due
Process, Or Similar Clauses

Amicus next discusses what happens if a same-sex couple

seeks a judicial remedy to enforce the Equal Protection, Privacy or

Due Process Clauses as construed in the Marriage Cases, or any

other constitutional nondiscrimination guarantee, after Proposition 8.

Amicus will examine every possibility it can think of for how

Proposition 8 would have to work, in its effect on the judicial branch

and the judicial branch’s ability to hear cases on same-sex marriage.

W hatever the means, all violate the Separation of Powers Clause.

The various possibilities appear to be:

1. Proposition 8 could purport to strip the courts of the

power to effect a remedy for unconstitutional discrimination under the

Marriage Cases – i.e., it could let a court rule that refusal to

recognize a same-sex marriage violates the Equal Protection,

Privacy, and Due Process Clauses, but deprive the courts of all

power to do anything about it.

2. Proposition 8 could be construed mandatorily, as

requiring a court to rule that governmental refusal to recognize the

marriage of a same-sex couple complies with the Equal Protection,

Privacy and Due Process Clauses.

24
 3. Proposition 8 could be construed prohibitorily, i.e., it

could purport to prohibit a court from ruling that a governmental

refusal to recognize the marriage of a same-sex couple violates the

Equal Protection, Privacy, or Due Process Clauses.

They are analyzed here in turn.

1. Can Proposition 8 Strip The Courts Of The Power To

Effect A Remedy For Unconstitutional Discrimination
Under The Marriage Cases, W hile Leaving Intact The
Power To Hear Such Cases?

a. Marbury v. Madison and Mandel v. Myers –

Prohibition Against Stripping The Judiciary Of The
Power To Award A Remedy For Deprivation Of
An Adjudicated Right

Since Marbury v. Madison, supra, it has been inherent in the

judicial power that where the judiciary can adjudicate a violation of a

legally created right, it must be able to award a corresponding

effective remedy. This Court has recognized that principle from early

statehood: “The very essence of civil liberty certainly consists in the

right of every individual to claim the protection of the laws, whenever

he receives an injury. One of the first duties of government is to

afford that protection.” (Guy v. Hermance (1855) 5 Cal. 73, 74.)

25
 As this Court stated it more recently, relying on Marbury v.

Madison:

Chief Justice John Marshall set down the rule of law in

1803 in Marbury v. Madison. "In the 3d vol. of his
Commentaries (p. 23), Blackstone states . . . 'In all other
cases, . . . it is a general and indisputable rule, that where
there is a legal right, there is also a legal remedy by suit, or
action at law, whenever that right is invaded.' And
afterwards (p. 109, of the same vol.), he says, '. . . for it is a
settled and invariable principle . . . that every right, when
withheld, must have a remedy, and every injury its proper
redress.' [para.] The government of the United States has
been emphatically termed a government of laws, and not of
men [or women]. It will certainly cease to deserve this high
appellation, if the laws furnish no remedy for the violation of
a vested legal right." (Marbury v. Madison (1803) 5 U.S. (1
Cranch) 87, 103 [2 L.Ed. 60, 69].)

(Mandel v. Myers (1981) 29 Cal.3d 531, 564; see also In re Sturm

(1974) 11 Cal.3d 258, 268-269 [also citing Marbury v. Madison].)

Since the power to award a remedy for deprivation of an

adjudicated legal right is an inherent part of the Article VI judicial

power, Proposition 8 would impinge unconstitutionally on the judicial

power, if it permitted the judiciary to adjudicate violations of such

rights but stripped it of power to award an effective remedy.

There is only one effective remedy for violation of the Equal

Protection, Privacy and Due Process Clause guarantees adjudicated

in the Marriage Cases. That remedy – the one in the Marriage

Cases (at pp. 856-857) – is to hold that a same-sex couple must be

granted the fundamental right to marry on the same bases as an

26
opposite-sex couple. A “remedy” is the means of effectuating a legal

or equitable cause of action (Frost v. Witter (1901) 132 Cal. 421,

426), and when the cause of action is a governmental edict requiring

unlawful discrimination, the minimum effective remedy is to eliminate

the discrimination. (See, e.g., Cooper v. Aaron (1958) 358 U.S. 1,

17; General Motors Corp. v. City and County of San Francisco

(1999) 69 Cal.App.4th 448, 454.) If the courts cannot award that

effective remedy, they cannot exercise their Article VI judicial power.

W ere Proposition 8 to have this effect, it would contravene the

basic principles of Marbury v. Madison, reiterated in cases from this

Court as discussed above. Therefore, Proposition 8 cannot strip the

judiciary of its power to award that sole effective remedy, without

violating the separation of powers.

b. Prohibition Against Relegating The Judiciary To

Rendering Advisory Opinions

In addition, if Proposition 8 acted by permitting the judiciary to

rule that refusal to recognize a same-sex marriage is unconstitutional

but prohibiting it from awarding any effective remedy, this would

make the judicial ruling an advisory opinion, an interesting piece of

paper that binds nobody. This too would violate the separation of

powers.

27
 A court has a constitutional duty to exercise the jurisdiction

conferred on it, whether by the Constitution or by statute. (People v.

Jordan (1884) 65 Cal. 644, 646.) Under Article VI, the California

courts have general original and reviewing jurisdiction over civil

actions, and this Court has discretionary jurisdiction. The legislative

branch may regulate the modes and procedures by which jurisdiction

is exercised, but it cannot abrogate constitutional jurisdiction

altogether. (Haight v. Gay (1857) 8 Cal. 297, 300.)

W e are positing in this subsection that Proposition 8 leaves

the cause of action intact, but abrogates the only effective remedy.

That would turn the court’s “exercise” of jurisdiction into an advisory

opinion – the court could “adjudicate” the cause, but couldn’t do

anything meaningful about it.

A California court cannot sit to declare a constitutional violation

in the abstract, without having ever had the power to do anything

about it. “The rendering of advisory opinions falls within neither the

functions nor the jurisdiction of this court.” (People ex rel. Lynch v.

Superior Court (1970) 1 Cal.3d 910, 912.) “[T]he proper role of the

judiciary does not extend to abstract differences of legal opinion . . .

.” (Pacific Legal Foundation v. California Coastal Commission

(1983) 33 Cal.3d 158, 170-171.) A controversy for which no effective

relief could be granted is not within the Article VI judicial power.

28
 For this reason as well, if Proposition 8 purported to disable

the courts from awarding an effective remedy, it would violate the

Separation of Powers Clause.

2. Can Proposition 8 Require A Court To Rule That

Governmental Refusal To Recognize The Marriage Of A
Same-Sex Couple Complies With The Equal Protection,
Privacy, And Due Process Clauses?

If Proposition 8 instead required courts to rule that government

refusal to recognize or permit a same-sex marriage complies with the

Equal Protection, Privacy and Due Process Clauses, when this Court

held the opposite in the Marriage Cases, it would amount to

prescribing a rule of decision for pending cases. Since United States

v. Klein (1872) 80 U.S. (13 W all.) 128, this has been recognized as

”pass[ing] the limit which separates the legislative from the judicial

power.” (Id. at p. 147.) So too in this situation.

This Court recognized Klein as stating essential separation of

powers principles for California’s governance. (Mandel v. Myers,

supra, 29 Cal.3d at pp. 549-550.) They are fully applicable here.

Klein’s principles are also applicable here for a second reason.

The State of California, its agents, and/or its subdivisions would be

parties to a case where a governmental official refused to recognize

or permit a same-sex marriage. So if Proposition 8 prescribed a rule

of decision for pending cases, that would “allow one party to [a]

29
controversy to decide [the case] in its own favor,” which under Klein

also violates the separation of powers. (Id., 80 U.S. at p. 146.)

An independent judicial branch must be able to make its own

decisions on claims of constitutional deprivations, under its own

interpretation of the Constitution, not have decisions forced upon it

by another branch of government. If Proposition 8 required courts to

rule that its provisions comply with the Equal Protection, Privacy or

Due Process Clauses, this would violate the separation of powers.

3. Can Proposition 8 Prohibit A Court From Ruling That

Governmental Refusal To Recognize The Marriage Of A
Same-Sex Couple Violates The Equal Protection,
Privacy, Or Due Process Clauses?

a. Generally

Finally, there is the possibility that Proposition 8 prohibits the

courts from following this Court’s opinion in the Marriage Cases, and

from making any other ruling to reach a result which had been

required by the Marriage Cases. How would this work?

Amicus can only think of two ways. They would require

deeming Proposition 8 to be equivalent to either of the following:

i. A reinterpretation of the Equal Protection, Privacy

and Due Process Clauses, to the effect of “The Supreme Court’s

contrary decision in Marriage Cases is deemed null and void, to the

extent needed to ensure it cannot be enforced in favor of same-sex

30
couples; so that these clauses cannot be construed as applying to

individuals in same-sex couples who seek to marry, and Proposition

8's new mandate of official state discrimination can be enforced”; or

ii. A directive that the judiciary lacks jurisdiction to

resolve claims under the Equal Protection, Privacy, or Due Process

Clauses, or any other, in favor of the validity of a same-sex marriage.

Either would violate the separation of powers principle that the

judiciary is the ultimate arbiter of the meaning of the Constitution,

since this Court has already held in the Marriage Cases that the

Equal Protection, Privacy, and Due Process Clauses do protect gay

men and lesbians seeking to marry. Because this Court is the

ultimate arbiter of the meaning of the Constitution with the power and

duty to “say what the law is,” the legislative power cannot disable the

judiciary from deciding same-sex marriage cases on the judiciary’s

independent interpretation of the Equal Protection, Privacy or Due

Process Clauses.

For this reason alone, this mechanism would render

Proposition 8 violative of the Separation of Powers Clause.

31
 b. Specific Encroachments On The Judicial Power
To Construe The Constitution Authoritatively

In addition, this mechanism would have direct consequences

on the law which the courts would have to apply. Any one of these

consequences would render Proposition 8 unconstitutional.

i. Disabling the courts from applying the

judicial doctrine of stare decisis. Proposition 8 would violate the

separation of powers by directing the courts not to follow this Court’s

interpretation of the Privacy, Equal Protection and Due Process

Clauses in the Marriage Cases – i.e., by abrogating stare decisis in

cases involving the validity of a same-sex marriage.

The lower courts would normally be bound to follow the

Marriage Cases under stare decisis, as required in Auto Equity

Sales, Inc. v. Superior Court (1962) 57 Cal.2d 450, 455. This Court

isn’t bound to follow its own decisions, but it would normally have the

authority to do so – and usually would – under stare decisis. (People

v. Garcia (2006) 39 Cal.4th 1070, 1080.) But if Proposition 8

prohibited the courts from ruling in favor of same-sex marriage, then

no court could adhere to the judicial doctrine of stare decisis for

interpreting the Privacy, Equal Protection, and Due Process Clauses

in same-sex marriage cases; courts would have to discard it in favor

of Proposition 8. This too would violate the separation of powers, by

32
the legislative branch disabling the judiciary from invoking its own

legal precedent – the Marriage Cases – to interpret our Constitution.

ii. Prohibiting the courts from utilizing the

compelling state interest test and strict scrutiny in cases involving

same-sex marriage. The compelling state interest test and strict

judicial scrutiny were cornerstones of this Court’s opinion in the

Marriage Cases.

If Proposition 8 were subjected to the compelling state interest

test and strict scrutiny, it would fail on the same bases as Family

Code section 308.5 did in the Marriage Cases. However,

Proposition 8 purports to prohibit the result in the Marriage Cases

without textually amending the Equal Protection, Privacy or Due

Process Clauses. It would therefore have to block application of this

Court’s rulings in the Marriage Cases on what those clauses mean.

In cases involving marriage, such a mechanism would prohibit

the judicial branch from applying or utilizing this Court’s rulings in the

Marriage Cases that (i) relational (sexual) orientation is a suspect

class, such that discrimination on that basis requires a compelling

state interest; (ii) deprivation of a fundamental right, such as the right

to marry, also requires a compelling state interest; and (iii) both are

subject to strict judicial scrutiny.

33
 It appears the only ways Proposition 8 could accomplish that

would be by either:

(A) “Adopting” a rule of law exempting itself from equal

protection scrutiny, perhaps by “deeming” that same-sex couples are

not similarly situated to opposite-sex couples for these purposes,

contrary to this Court’s holding in the Marriage Cases (43 Cal.4th at

p. 831, fn. 54). Or:

(B) Acting as a de facto law that the courts have no jurisdiction

to rule in cases involving the validity of a same-sex marriage, though

they still have jurisdiction in cases involving the validity of any other

marriage, or any other form of Equal Protection, Privacy, or Due

Process Clause question.

The former would involve telling the courts what to rule in a

pending case, in violation of the Article VI principles of Mandel v.

Myers and United States v. Klein discussed in section (D)(2) above.

The latter would again substitute the legislative branch for the

judiciary as the ultimate arbiter of the Constitution, in violation of

Article VI as discussed in section (C) above. "The courts of this state

derive their powers and jurisdiction from the constitution of the state.

The constitutional jurisdiction can neither be restricted nor enlarged

by legislative act. An attempt to take away from the courts judicial

power conferred upon them by the constitution is void." (In re Sutter-

34
Butte By-Pass Assessment (1923) 190 Cal. 532, 536.) Since the

Constitution confers upon courts the power to adjudicate causes of

action which require interpretation of the Constitution, the legislative

branch – whether through the Legislature or the electorate – cannot

strip the courts of jurisdiction to do exactly that.

A branch of government cannot do indirectly what it cannot do

directly (Bramberg v. Jones (1999) 20 Cal.4th 1045, 1063;

Metropolitan Water Dist. v. County of Riverside (1943) 21 Cal.2d

640, 642), least of all in constitutional interpretation. “To give effect

to the constitution it is as much the duty of the courts to see that it is

not evaded as that it is not directly violated.” (Sheehy v. Shinn

(1894) 103 Cal. 325, 340; see also Cooper v. Aaron, supra, 358 U.S.

at p. 17.)

In short, it would violate the separation of powers for the

legislative branch to prohibit the courts from using the “compelling

state interest” test and strict scrutiny in cases involving the validity of

same-sex marriages, when this Court had held the compelling state

interest test and strict scrutiny must be used in such cases.

35
 iii. Utilizing the rational basis test, or any other

standard below strict scrutiny, even if this Court might have

otherwise concluded that Proposition 8 violated it. Amicus believes

Proposition 8 does violate the rational basis test after the Marriage

Cases, irrespective of whether it would have done so before.

Proposition 8's act of depriving gay men and lesbians of an existing,

expressly recognized fundamental right – what this Court held to be

a “basic civil right” (Marriage Cases, at p. 820) and a “fundamental

right of free men [and women] (id. at p. 818) – was intended to

discriminate; that is its essence. Laws enacted with the animus to

discriminate fail rational basis review. (Romer v. Evans (1996) 517

U.S. 620, 634-635.)

One would not have to call Proposition 8's proponents

“irrational, ignorant or bigoted” (Marriage Cases, at p. 856, fn. 73),

and one could assume arguendo that its proponents acted with good

intentions – following their religious, social, or other beliefs –

because the conclusion is still obvious: Proposition 8 is intentionally

discriminatory; its intent and very nature is to require, as organic law,

the precise discrimination that the Marriage Cases had forbidden.

This is different from 2000's Proposition 22, which was enacted

when there was no authoritative constitutional pronouncement on

same-sex marriage; here by contrast, the avowed purpose of

36
Proposition 8 was to take away an existing, expressly recognized

fundamental civil right. “A state enactment cannot be construed for

purposes of constitutional analysis without concern for its immediate

objective.” (Mulkey v. Reitman (1966) 64 Cal.2d 529, 533 [aff’d

(1967) 387 U.S. 369].)

Proposition 8 purports to deprive the courts of the power to

adjudicate this question. Because Proposition 8 requires all courts to

refuse to recognize a same-sex marriage, the courts could not

adjudicate a same-sex marriage question under the rational basis

test of the state Equal Protection Clause, or any other test.6

This too violates the separation of powers. The analysis is the

same as that ante, section (C), incorporated by reference here.

iv. Applying the Uniform Operation Clause

(Art. IV, sec. 16), or the Privileges and Immunities Clause (Art. I, sec.

7(b)). Although these clauses have been construed similarly to the

state Equal Protection Clause, before 1974, they were the only

equality-based California constitutional protections of individual

6
Amicus does not conclude that a rational basis analysis
would necessarily be the same in other jurisdictions. The discussion
here, apart from being limited to California jurisprudence, is also
limited to this unprecedented context unique to California; where a
jurisdiction’s highest court ruled a form of discrimination
unconstitutional, and then the jurisdiction’s legislative authority wrote
that same form of discrimination into its Constitution and made it
mandatory.

37
liberty. Both have been part of our Constitution since 1849. (See Ex

Parte Smith (1869) 38 Cal. 702, 710; Smith v. Judge of the Twelfth

Judicial District (1861) 17 Cal. 547, 555-556.)

If a person seeking a same-sex marriage license couldn’t use

the Equal Protection Clause, but wanted to challenge Proposition 8's

discrimination on an equality basis, that person might turn to the

Uniform Operation Clause or the state Privileges and Immunities

Clause. Proposition 8, however, would also block the courts from

finding in favor of marriage – and therefore from making any ruling at

all – based on those constitutional provisions. The analysis ante,

section (C), is incorporated by reference here.

38
E. Conclusion To Part I

“James Madison, in writing of the separation of powers

doctrine in The Federalist Papers, quoted Montesquieu's warnings of

the dangers posed by legislative exercise of judicial power: ‘W ere the

power of judging joined with the legislative, the life and liberty of the

subject would be exposed to arbitrary control, for the judge would

then be the legislator . . . .’ [Citation to Madison, The Federalist No.

47.]” (Mandel v. Myers, supra, 29 Cal.3d at p. 549, fn. 8.)

That is this case. The initiative laws are supposed to mean

only that “the people have simply withdrawn from the legislative body

and reserved to themselves the right to exercise a part of their

inherent legislative power.” (Dwyer v. City Council (1927) 200 Cal.

505, 513.) Here, by contrast, the voter initiative has gone well

beyond exercising “inherent legislative power,” and has extended

into exercising inherent judicial power.

For all these reasons, this Court should declare Proposition 8

violative of Article III, section 3 of our Constitution.

39
II. PROPOSITION 8 IS A CONSTITUTIONAL REVISION,
WHICH CANNOT BE EFFECTUATED BY INITIATIVE

A. Separation Of Powers

If Proposition 8 were construed to alter any of the separation

of powers principles in Part I above, it would vest an essential part of

the judicial power – the judiciary’s role as ultimate arbiter of the

meaning of the Constitution – in the legislative branch. That would

violate the revision provisions of Article XVIII. (Raven v.

Deukmejian, supra, 52 Cal.3d at p. 355.) Nor can Proposition 8

disable this Court from effectuating its own prior precedents or

hearing this case, for the same reason.

This point is assigned as amicus’s first reason in this Part,

independent of the others, as to why Proposition 8 is an improper

revision. The point significantly overlaps with Part I above (see ante,

fn. 2), so amicus need not discuss it further here.

B. Proposition 8 Fails The “Betterment Of Purpose” Requirement

For Constitutional Amendments, Set Forth In This Court’s
Opinions In Livermore v. Waite And Its Progeny

1. Overview; The “Betterment Of Purpose” Requirement

Proposition 8 also violates Article XVIII of our Constitution

because it is a revision without the required convention or legislative

submission. (See Raven v. Deukmejian, supra, 52 Cal.3d at pp.

349-350.) While petitioners have also made this argument, amicus

40
has an extra perspective: Proposition 8 fails another requirement for

a nonrevisory amendment – the “betterment of purpose” requirement

– which this Court has promulgated beginning with its 1894 opinion

in Livermore v. Waite, supra, 102 Cal. 113 [“Waite”].

Amicus will not repeat the excellent presentations in

petitioners’ briefs, except to say it wholly concurs.

Amicus does wish to make the following specific point,

however, based on this Court’s definition of the difference between

an amendment and a revision:

“The very term ‘constitution’ implies an instrument of a

permanent and abiding nature, and the provisions contained therein

for its revision indicate the will of the people that the underlying

principles on which it rests, as well as the substantial entirety of the

instrument, shall be of a like permanent and abiding nature. On the

other hand, the significance of the term ‘amendment’ implies such an

addition or change within the lines of the original instrument as will

effect an improvement, or better carry out the purpose for which

it was framed.” (Livermore v. Waite, supra, 102 Cal. at pp. 118-119

[all emphasis added] [quoted in part in Raven v. Deukmejian, supra,

52 Cal.3d at p. 355]; accord Amador Valley Joint Union H.S. Dist. v.

State Bd. of Equalization (1978) 22 Cal.3d 208, 222; McFadden v.

Jordan (1948) 32 Cal.2d 330, 333.)

41
 This Court has never held that abrogation of a “basic,

constitutionally protected civil right” (Marriage Cases, at p. 818),

particularly one which this Court had held protected by strict scrutiny,

could be deemed “an addition or change within the lines of the

original [Constitution] as will effect an improvement, or better carry

out the purpose for which it was framed.” Nor has impairing judicial

review for deprivation of a fundamental right been deemed to effect

an improvement in the Constitution, or better carry out the purposes

for which it was framed. As a matter of common sense, how could it?

2. W ays In W hich Proposition 8 Fails The Betterment Of

Purpose Requirement, Including Contravening Purposes
For W hich The Original Instrument W as Framed

To the contrary, Proposition 8 is much worse for the purposes

for which our Constitution was framed, quite the opposite of an

improvement, for those purposes. Each reason in subsections (a)

through (d) below focuses on a different core principle which is

among the central purposes for which the Constitution was framed.

If Proposition 8 fails to better carry out any of these purposes, it

violates this Court’s betterment of purpose requirement in Waite and

its progeny, and is an impermissible revision.

As shown in subsections (a) through (d) below, Proposition 8

fails as to not just one, but all. On each such basis, separately and

together, Proposition 8 is not an “improvement” on the original

42
instrument and does not “better carry out the purposes for which [the

Constitution] was framed.” (Livermore v. Waite, supra.) Therefore, it

is an impermissible revision.

Beyond that, in subsection (e) below, amicus will show that

nothing about Proposition 8 better carries out any core purpose of

the 1879 Constitution – let alone when compared against the

detriment it causes – because nothing in that Constitution had a

purpose of discrimination with respect to marriage. For this reason

too, separately and together with the others, Proposition 8 fails this

Court’s betterment of purpose requirement in Waite and its progeny.

a. Impairment Of Core Judicial Functions

Proposition 8 impairs the judiciary’s ability to “test legislative

and executive acts by the light of constitutional mandate and in

particular to preserve constitutional rights, whether of individual or

minority, from obliteration by the majority.” (Bixby v. Pierno (1971) 4

Cal.3d 130, 141.) “The architects of our federal and state

Constitutions understood that widespread and deeply rooted

prejudices may lead majoritarian institutions to deny fundamental

freedoms to unpopular minority groups, and that the most effective

remedy for this form of oppression is an independent judiciary

charged with the solemn responsibility to interpret and enforce the

constitutional provisions guaranteeing fundamental freedoms and

43
equal protection. [Citations.]” (Marriage Cases, 43 Cal.4th at p. 860

[conc. opn. of Kennard, J.].) As this Court has held, that is “probably

the most fundamental” type of protection emanating from the

separation of powers, which this Court called a “basic philosophy of

our constitutional system of government.” (Bixby v. Pierno, supra, 4

Cal.3d at p. 141.)

Proposition 8 purports to exempt the fundamental right to

marry, and constitutional rights of lesbians and gay men as

adjudicated in the Marriage Cases, from such judicial scrutiny. This

is a major impairment of a core judicial function, removing the

judiciary’s check and balance from a majority obliteration of minority

constitutional guarantees.

b. Derogation From The Core Guarantee Of Equal

Protection

The principle of equal protection has been one of our

Constitution’s most basic principles since statehood. It was written

into the Constitution as early as 1849, when there wasn’t even a

federal Equal Protection Clause (let alone a California version), by

the Uniform Operation Clause, now Article IV, section 16. (See Dep’t

of Mental Hygiene v. Kirchner (1965) 62 Cal.2d 586, 588 [Uniform

Operation Clause construed similarly to federal Equal Protection

Clause; see also Smith v. Judge of the Twelfth District, supra, 17

44
Cal. at pp. 555-556 [discussion of equal protection principles in 1849

Constitution].)

Equal protection principles are among the core guarantees of

our Constitution. As Justice Harlan wrote in his courageous and

farsighted dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) 163 U.S. 537, they

are a central part of individual liberty, which exist to “protect all the

civil rights that pertain to freedom.” (Id. at p. 555.)

Proposition 8 acts contrary to basic equal protection principles,

for the reasons in the Marriage Cases, and also for the more basic

reason that its very purpose is to discriminate in an area where this

Court had found the discrimination to violate the Constitution.

c. Alienation Of Rights Previously Guaranteed By

The Inalienable Rights Clause, And Previously
Found To Be Inalienable

The Inalienable Rights Clause, Article I, section 1 of the

Constitution, was enacted to secure the most basic rights to

California citizens, rights so essential that they are “protected not

merely against state action [but rather] may not be violated by

anyone.” (Hill v. National Collegiate Athletic Ass’n (1994) 7 Cal.4th

1, 18.) This Court has held the Inalienable Rights Clause is one of

the very purposes of the organization of our Constitution (Brown v.

City of Los Angeles (1920) 183 Cal. 783, 786), representing some of

the most cherished of individual liberties (Ex Parte Drexel (1905) 147

45
Cal. 763, 764) – including marriage itself, which it has recognized as

a “fundamental right of free [people].” (Perez v. Sharp (1948) 32

Cal.2d 711, 714.) The clause is so central to our Constitution that it

was numbered first (Article I, section 1) in the 1849 version, and

again in 1879.

This Court set forth the essential nature of the rights

guaranteed by the Inalienable Rights Clause, and their vital nature in

our system of government, shortly after statehood:

This principle is as old as the Magna Charta. It lies at the

foundation of every constitutional government, and is
necessary to the existence of civil liberty and free institutions.
It was not lightly incorporated into the Constitution of this State
as one of those political dogmas designed to tickle the popular
ear, and conveying no substantial meaning or idea; but as one
of those fundamental principles of enlightened government,
without a rigorous observance of which there could be neither
liberty nor safety to the citizen.

(Billings v. Hall (1857) 7 Cal. 1, 6.)

The Inalienable Rights Clause is therefore among the

“purposes for which [the Constitution] was framed,” within the

meaning of Waite and its progeny. Proposition 8 is invalid if it fails to

achieve a betterment of that clause’s purpose.

It is, and it does. Proposition 8 severely alienates vital rights in

the Inalienable Rights Clause, without a commensurately strong

basis in the police power for doing so.

46
 The rights in the Inalienable Rights Clause cannot be taken

away or restrained by the legislative branch, except by reasonable

regulations in the exercise of the police power. (Roystone Co. v.

Darling (1915) 171 Cal. 526, 531-532.) In turn, the police power

which justifies intruding on rights guaranteed by the Inalienable

Rights Clause is circumscribed by the need to preserve individual

liberty. (Ex Parte Jentzsch (1896) 112 Cal. 468, 471-472.)

That balance requires restricting the police power so that it

only prohibits individuals from exercising specified rights to prevent

injury to the public health and general welfare. That is a broad

power, but it is not unlimited, and it must be based in protection of

the public. As this Court put it:

Because of the great value to mankind and the consequent

paramount importance of the preservation of individual liberty,
it is universally admitted and held that the police powers of the
legislature are not absolute or unlimited. These personal rights
cannot be taken away or impaired at the mere will of the
legislature, nor at all, unless public welfare demands it. . . .
The injury [justifying exercise of the police power] must be of
such character and extent and to such a number of persons
that it may be reasonably supposed that it will cause injury to
others, that is, to the community in general, or, as it is
expressed, to the public health and general welfare. [Citation.]

(In re Miller (1912) 162 Cal. 687, 693-694.) In short, the Inalienable

Rights Clause means “[e]very individual citizen is to be allowed so

much liberty as may exist without impairment of the equal rights of

his fellows.” (Ex Parte Jentzsch, supra, 112 Cal. at p. 472.)

47
 As this Court recognized in the Marriage Cases, the marriage

of any same-sex couple does not endanger or impair the marriage

rights of any opposite-sex couple, who are free to enjoy the benefits

and pursue the aspirations of their own marriages for themselves

and their families. “[Retaining] access to the designation of marriage

to same-sex couples will not deprive any opposite-sex couples or

their children of any of the rights and benefits conferred by the

marriage statutes . . . .” (Id., 43 Cal.4th at pp. 854-855.) The

connection between Proposition 8, and preventing injury to public

health and general welfare, is therefore weak and attenuated at best.

In light of the above-quoted portion of the Marriage Cases, amicus

submits it is nonexistent.

Conversely, prohibiting same-sex couples from marrying on an

equal basis with opposite-sex couples severely impairs the

inalienable right of pursuing happiness for gay men, lesbians, and

their families. This Court in the Marriage Cases well stated the

impact that the right to marry has on one’s ability to pursue

happiness. Amicus refers this Court to 43 Cal.4th at pp. 781 and

817-818, incorporated here by reference.

Furthermore, forcing lesbians, gay men, and their families to

bear the stigma of discrimination and second-class citizenship, by a

State pronouncement that gay and lesbian relationships and families

48
are unworthy of the State recognition and privileges bestowed freely

on opposite-sex couples and their families, severely detracts from

gay individuals’ and families’ once-inalienable right of pursuing

happiness. This Court got it right again in the Marriage Cases;

amicus refers this Court to 43 Cal.4th, pp. 784-785, 845-847, 855,

incorporated here by reference.

In particular, the stigma of official discrimination, and the

resulting state-sponsored second-class citizenship, is antithetical to

the pursuit of happiness – and not just for people who want to marry.

The injuriousness of official race discrimination, after all, was not

limited to those who wanted to marry outside their race, or who

wanted to sit up front in the bus.7

7
Amicus recognizes that some find objectionable a
neutral state of laws which recognizes same-sex marriages on an
equal plane with opposite-sex marriages. That, however, is not a
proper basis for exercising the police power to override
nondiscrimination provisions of the Constitution, any more than
objections to racial equality could justify using the police power to
uphold miscegenation statutes. (See Perez v. Sharp, supra, 32
Cal.2d 711.) Of course, some also have religious objections to
same-sex marriage, while others’ religious beliefs embrace loving
couples in both opposite-sex and same-sex relationships. (See also
Marriage Cases, 43 Cal.4th at p. 791, fn. 10.) But religion has no
part in the police power. (Ex Parte Jentzsch, supra, 112 Cal. at pp.
471-472.) Moreover, religious beliefs of some individuals are legally
insufficient to invoke the police power, because marriage
discrimination isn’t needed to protect anyone’s religious freedom.
(Marriage Cases, at pp. 854-855.)

49
 d. Grant Of Special Privileges To One Class, W hile
Discriminatorily Denying Those Privileges To
Another Similarly Situated

Another equal protection provision, considered part of our

Constitution back to 1849 (see Smith v. Judge of the Twelfth District,

supra, 17 Cal. at pp. 555-556), is Article I, section 7(b): “A citizen or

class of citizens may not be granted privileges or immunities not

granted on the same terms to all citizens.”

This provision is also essential to the purposes for which the

Constitution was framed. “The constitutional convention of 1879 was

... firmly set against special legislation of all kinds,” and the state

Privileges and Immunities Clause was part of those prohibitions.

(Boca Mill Co. v. Curry (1908) 154 Cal. 326, 330.)

This provision has been construed similarly to the Equal

Protection and Uniform Operation Clauses. (Department of Mental

Health v. Kirchner, supra, 62 Cal.2d at p. 588.) Those clauses focus

on detriment to the aggrieved citizen. By contrast, the state

Privileges and Immunities Clause prohibits special benefits from

being conferred upon one class of citizens similarly situated to

another. (Meyerfield v. South San Joaquin Irrigation Dist. (1935) 3

Cal.2d 409, 418.)

Proposition 8 does exactly that: It confers the benefits of

state-sanctioned marriage on only the class of persons in opposite-

50
sex relationships, while discriminatorily denying it to the class of

persons in same-sex relationships – whom this Court has held to be

similarly situated (Marriage Cases, 43 Cal.4th at p. 831, fn. 54) –

thereby creating a class of citizens on whom is conferred special

benefits. This contravenes the core principle of our Constitution

against special privileges. Proposition 8 changes marriage from an

institution of nondiscrimination, into a bestowment of state-granted

privileges on some similarly situated couples but not others.8

8
Amicus defers to prior briefing on the benefits and
privileges of marriage that don’t exist in unequal lesser institutions
such as “domestic partnerships.” (Cf. Marriage Cases, 43 Cal.4th at
p. 805, fn. 24.) However, one benefit that may have been omitted is
marriage recognition by other states and counties.

Currently, two states permit same-sex marriage

(Massachusetts and Connecticut), at least three others recognize
valid marriages from outside their borders (Rhode Island, New York,
New Mexico), and several foreign countries permit same-sex
marriage (Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, and South
Africa). The number of such jurisdictions should only grow over time.

To the knowledge of amicus, these jurisdictions do not

recognize foreign-state “domestic partnerships” as having all legal
rights of marriage. At the same time, these jurisdictions would be
expected to grant full recognition for foreign-state marriages. This
disparity between extraterritorial recognition of marriage vs. domestic
partnership would have huge impact on California residents whose
interests could touch on such other jurisdictions – e.g., probate,
intestacy, property rights, divorce, health care, travel, insurance
benefits, etc. This is yet another basis to show that “separate but
equal” is rarely if ever truly equal, and certainly isn’t here.

However, the most fundamental inequality is the very nature of

the separateness, an official State edict that a disparaged minority is
(continued...)

51
 e. Apart From The Above, Nothing About
Proposition 8 Better Carries Out The Purposes
For W hich Our Constitution W as Framed

In addition to all of this, amicus cannot see any sound

argument that legislative supersession of the constitutional

guarantees in the Marriage Cases would “effect[] an improvement, or

better carry out the purpose for which [the California Constitution]

was framed” (Livermore v. Waite, supra). Certainly, amicus sees

none that overcomes the major detriments described above.

The 1879 Constitution does not address same-sex marriage.

That is unsurprising – discrimination against gay men and lesbians

was so ingrained into society then, and gay people were so widely

viewed in far more disapproving and disparaging terms (accord

Marriage Cases, at p. 853), that few if anyone back then could have

envisioned same-sex marriages. But the 1879 Constitution was a

living document, which permitted reassessment of past practices “in

the light of the continued evolution of fundamental precepts of our

constitutional system.” (In re Antazo (1970) 3 Cal.3d 100, 109;

Marriage Cases, at pp. 820-821; see also Atty. Gen. Br., pp. 82-84.)

And the 1879 Constitution didn’t mention marriage, let alone

8
(...continued)
unworthy of participating in the same State institutions the majority
get to take for granted. This Court well addressed that in Marriage
Cases, at pp. 830-831, 844-847.

52
establish fundamental marital policy. Nothing in that Constitution

evinces a purpose of requiring permanent State discrimination

against same-sex couples in this civil right, even when society

evolved to a point where official nondiscrimination was plausible.9

This Court’s Marriage Cases opinion further reinforces that. If

the 1879 Constitution had a central purpose to require permanent

marriage discrimination against lesbians and gay men, the Marriage

Cases opinion couldn’t exist. But there was no such central purpose,

as the Constitution left ample room for reevaluation on constitutional

evolution. “Constitutional concepts are not static.… In determining

what lines are unconstitutionally discriminatory, we have never been

confined to historic notions of equality, any more than we have

restricted due process to a fixed catalogue of what was at a given

9
Social evolution toward nondiscrimination is often the
backdrop for modern-day interpretations of the state Constitution that
would have been implausible in the 19th century. The evolution of
racial and ethnic nondiscrimination laws is an obvious example
(although to a large extent, judicial opinions drove that social
evolution). Another is the emancipation of women, which was not in
our law when the Constitution was enacted; when society evolved
toward women’s equality, interpretations of the Constitution could
similarly evolve toward gender nondiscrimination, and nothing in the
Constitution prohibited this. (Compare, e.g., Ex Parte Smith, supra,
38 Cal. at pp. 709-712 with Sail’er Inn v. Kirby (1971) 5 Cal.3d 1.)
The same is true of modern nondiscrimination interpretations of the
state Constitution with respect to marriage itself. (See, e.g.,
Follansbee v. Benzenberg (1954) 122 Cal.App.2d 466, 476; Perez v.
Sharp, supra, 32 Cal.2d 711.) Similar principles were part of what
underlay the Marriage Cases. (Id., 43 Cal.4th at pp. 850-852.)

53
time deemed to be the limits of fundamental rights.” (Marriage

Cases, 43 Cal.4th at pp. 820-821 [citations omitted].) This couldn’t

have been written if a central purpose of the 1879 Constitution had

been marital discrimination against same-sex couples.

Beyond that, “[f]undamental rights may not be submitted to

vote; they depend on the outcome of no election.” (Id. at p. 852

[citations omitted].) Proposition 8 contravenes this constitutional

declaration of government organization. That itself fails to “better

carry out the purposes for which the original document was framed.”

(Livermore v. Waite, 102 Cal. at pp. 118-119.)

Again, Prop. 8 fails this Court’s betterment of purpose

requirement in Waite and its progeny, and is an invalid revision.

C. Proposition 8 Is An Improper Revision On Each Of The Bases

In Part II(B)(2)(a)-(d) Above

Irrespective of this Court’s betterment of purpose requirement

in Waite and its progeny, each consideration in sections (B)(2)(a),

(b), (c) and (d) represents a profound change in the fabric of our

Constitution that affects the inherent nature of the entire document.

Rather than restating these arguments, amicus incorporates

each here by reference (sections (B)(2)(a), (b), (c), and (d),

respectively). Amicus also agrees with the petitioners’ positions on

54
these issues; and as to section (B)(2)(c), with the Attorney General’s

argument on pp. 75-90 of its answering brief.

The spatial brevity of this section should not be construed as

diminishing the importance of these arguments. Brevity is needed

because of space limitations and organizational constraints. But

each point in sections (B)(2)(a)-(d) above represents a sea change in

our Constitution, and each deserves its own argument.

The changes in these clauses – or more precisely here, in

their interpretation – appear unprecedented. To the knowledge of

amicus, this State has never enacted initiative amendments to these

clauses which discriminatorily reduced their protections, and made

mandatory what was once unconstitutional discrimination as to

something this Court held to be a “basic, constitutionally protected

civil right.” (Marriage Cases, 43 Cal.4th at p. 818 [italics in original].)

The question is whether these impairments, separately or

together, change the fundamental character of the document, so as

to implicate revision rather than amendment. Amicus respectfully

submits the answer must be yes.

55
CODA (RE: EXISTING MARRIAGES)

A. W hat If, Hypothetically, Proposition 8 W ere Valid? (In Brief)

Due to space limitations, this brief cannot analyze in depth

what would happen to same-sex marriages contracted before

Proposition 8 became effective, if (hypothetically) Proposition 8 were

constitutional.

Amicus does wish to state a brief concurrence with the

petitioners and Attorney General that those marriages are valid

irrespective of Proposition 8, on these grounds:

(i) The legislative branch of government cannot permissibly

override the judiciary’s judgment that these marriages are

constitutionally valid, as decided in the Marriage Cases, on the

bases in Part I above.

(ii) All couples who were validly married under pre-November

5, 2008 law are similarly situated, so revoking that status for a

disfavored few would violate the state and federal Equal Protection

Clauses (Romer v. Evans, supra, 517 U.S. at pp. 634-635).

(iii) Lawfully married same-sex couples obtained liberty and

property interests that vested upon their marriage, which cannot be

retroactively divested by the State (Seymour v. McEvoy (1898) 121

Cal. 438, 442).

56
 (iv) Marriage is a contract, the validity of a contract is

measured by the law at the time of the contract, and the State cannot

abrogate an existing contract by changing the law post hoc

(Creighton v. Pragg (1862) 21 Cal. 115, 119).

(v) Marriage is a contract that creates legal obligations

(Marriage Cases, at pp. 828-829; see also ante, fn. 8), and the

federal (Art. I, sec. 10) and state Constitutions (Art. I, sec. 9) prohibit

this State from impairing the obligations of any contract.

(vi) Proposition 8 does not specify that it applies retroactively

to nullify existing marriages, so given the strong presumption of

nonretroactivity of legislation (e.g., Myers v. Philip Morris Cos. (2002)

28 Cal.4th 828, 841), Proposition 8 operates prospectively only. And:

(vii) An express statement of retroactivity is required for

retroactive operation of legislation, which cannot be implied

(Evangelatos v. Superior Court (1988) 44 Cal.3d 1188, 1208-1209),

but Proposition 8 has none. And also:

(viii) On all grounds asserted by petitioners and the Attorney

General.

57
B. Further Considerations

Amicus also strongly supports full recognition of existing

marriages because it rejects the notion that marital “separate but

equal” is at all equal, in part because official discrimination so

profoundly affects those who are subject to it. (See Brown v. Board

of Education, supra, 347 U.S. at pp. 494-495; Marriage Cases, 43

Cal.4th at pp. 845-848.)

Amicus also submits that official discrimination in core areas of

basic civil rights – here, a “basic, inalienable civil right” (Marriage

Cases, 43 Cal.4th at p. 781) in an area which this Court recognized

as crucial to the inalienable right of happiness (id. at pp. 781, 817-

818) – deeply affects not only those who are directly deprived of the

civil right, but every member of the targeted class. Just as

miscegenation laws were a badge of second-class status for racial

minorities (Loving v. Virginia (1967) 388 U.S. 1, 11; Perez v. Sharp,

supra, 32 Cal.2d at pp. 719-720, 725), a prohibition against marrying

a person of one’s own relational (sexual) orientation is a stigmatizing

badge of second-class status and condemnation against gay people

– and their families, including their children (the vast majority of

whom are and will be heterosexual). In the schoolyard, the

workplace, public and private gathering places, and everywhere else,

acts of prejudice in society are only fostered by governmental

58
designations of unworthiness. Gay men, lesbians and their families

will forever be second-class citizens and greater targets of

discrimination if official edict ratifies just that.

Then, too, who would find tolerable a law that prohibited

opposite-sex couples from invoking the State-recognized institution

and privileges of marriage, solely because they happened to be of

the opposite sex?

Marriage is a profound right and privilege, central to a married

person’s sense of self, that literally defines the lives of so many.

That is particularly so for those with long marriages, an opportunity

central to the dreams and aspirations of almost all who choose to

marry. Married people’s status as such is so often integral to the

fabric of their being, fully recognized by society. Landmarks such as

anniversaries and births or adoptions – and of course, the wedding

itself – reinforce this deeply held life definition in their own eyes and

those of their families, friends, acquaintances, and society in general.

After the Marriage Cases, how could it be contended that

domestic partnerships, and the emotionally sterile process of

entering into one, are the same as a real marriage? (W ho ever

heard of gatherings of dozens or hundreds of family and friends, in a

beautiful setting of a couple’s choice, for a domestic partnership

signing?) And what purpose would separate institutions serve after

59
the Marriage Cases, except to reinforce expressly that government

does not deem lesbians and gay men and their families worthy of

participating in the same government institution as opposite-sex

couples? Government may not control societal norms or feelings of

individuals. But it can require – or prohibit – official discriminatory

treatment which fosters major differences in life treatment.

W hether or not the word “marriage” is constitutionally required,

if this State is to use it after the Marriage Cases, it shouldn’t be as a

means of reinventing discrimination against a constitutionally suspect

class – of consigning gays and lesbians to second-class citizenship

by mandating that as official discriminatory policy, they don’t deserve

the fundamental right to secure happiness through a family unit with

the same governmental respect, dignity, and privileges, as everyone

else. (See also Marriage Cases, at pp. 845-848.) And as with past

efforts at “separate but equal” restrictions of human rights, this one

isn’t even equal in the law (see id. at pp. 845-846; ante, footnote 8),

let alone with respect to the social prejudice and sense of second-

class citizenship and unworthiness it helps foster.

60
 “Exemption from legal discrimination [] implying inferiority in

civil society” is a central aspect of equality provisions of a

Constitution. (Strauder v. West Virginia (1880) 100 U.S. 303, 307-

308.) That well describes the kind of equality Proposition 8 purports

to prohibit.

The Proposition 8 voter materials reinstated the historical

tradition of disparagement of gay people (see Marriage Cases, 43

Cal.4th at p. 846), among other things, by prominent references to

“the gay lifestyle” (2008 Official General Election Voter Information

Guide, Arguments for Proposition 8, par. 3) – as if one’s orientation

were a mere choice akin to where one vacations. “Lifestyle” often

connotes travel, entertainment, or lavish living (e.g., “Lifestyles of the

Rich and Famous”); worse, in this context, it is often used to connote

sexual licentiousness. It certainly implies voluntaristic choices that

could be ditched tomorrow if a person wanted.

Being gay isn’t a mere “lifestyle”; it is an integral part of one’s

life, one’s most deeply held identity, just as being heterosexual is. In

the lives of gay men and lesbians, this Court was spot on in

discussing the connection between relational orientation and human

identity: “Because a person's sexual orientation is so integral an

aspect of one's identity, it is not appropriate to require a person to

repudiate or change his or her sexual orientation in order to avoid

61
discriminatory treatment. [Citations.]” (Marriage Cases, 43 Cal.4th

at p. 842.) Proposition 8's demeaning references to “the gay

lifestyle,” disparaging the lives of committed, loving couples which so

resemble the lives of opposite-sex couples, sought to replace this

Court’s nondiscrimination ruling in the Marriage Cases with an official

State pro-discrimination perspective – a giant step backward.

Anyway, who would tolerate official discrimination against

opposite-sex couples, let alone in this central area of human

happiness, based on disparaging references to some undefined

“heterosexual lifestyle”?

This Court’s opinion in the Marriage Cases stands as

governing law saying our Constitution doesn’t accept that kind of

discrimination for anyone. It is the law applicable to pre-November

5, 2008 marriages, under all circumstances.

62
CONCLUSION

In the Marriage Cases, this Court found unconstitutional a

practice of State-mandated marriage discrimination. The electorate

then enacted Proposition 8 to trump this Court. We all heard and

saw plenty in the campaign about how judicial branch of our tripartite

government – which, in the campaign, was reduced to a disdainful

mantra of “four activist judges in San Francisco” (Arguments for

Proposition 8, supra, pars. 2, 13) – should bow to more popular

sentiment of the time. That kind of theme is hardly unprecedented; it

is perhaps even inherent in the role of the judiciary as a check and

balance to other branches of government.

No doubt if Brown v. Board of Education had gone to popular

vote in 1954, it would have lost too. Yet who today questions an

African-American’s right to an education on the same footing as the

Caucasian majority, though it was declared by courts rather than

voters? Or, who today questions a person’s right to marry outside

their race or ethnic group, though Perez v. Sharp was

unprecedented in 1948 (and was decided by 4-3 vote, like the

Marriage Cases)?

63
 As this Court made clear in Bixby v. Pierno (1971) 4 Cal. 3d

130, that is among the most important reasons for a tripartite system

of government, where the judiciary’s interpretations of the

Constitution – especially its determination of what acts are prohibited

by the Constitution – are the ultimate authority under the law. This

Court’s words have particular meaning here:

The separation of powers doctrine articulates a basic

philosophy of our constitutional system of government; it
establishes a system of checks and balances to protect any
one branch against the overreaching of any other branch.
[Citations.] Of such protections, probably the most
fundamental lies in the power of the courts to test legislative
and executive acts by the light of constitutional mandate and in
particular to preserve constitutional rights, whether of
individual or minority, from obliteration by the majority.
[Citations, including Marbury v. Madison.] Because of its
independence and long tenure, the judiciary probably can
exert a more enduring and equitable influence in safeguarding
fundamental constitutional rights than the other two branches
of government, which remain subject to the will of a
contemporaneous and fluid majority. [Citations.] . . .

[T]he limitations imposed by our constitutional law upon the

action of the governments . . . are essential to the preservation
of public and private rights, notwithstanding the representative
character of our political institutions. The enforcement of these
limitations by judicial process is the device of self-governing
communities to protect the rights of individuals and minorities,
as well against the power of numbers, as against the violence
of public agents transcending the limits of lawful authority,
even when acting in the name and wielding the force of the
government.

(Bixby v. Pierno, supra, 4 Cal. 3d at p. 141.)

64
 That was true in landmark antidiscrimination cases such as

Brown v. Board of Education and Perez v. Sharp. It is all the more

here, when the system of checks and balances is being so

challenged.

This is not the first time California’s electorate has taken a

step backward from state nondiscrimination, to write official

discrimination into our Constitution. Most recently, 1964's

Proposition 14 tried to do so. (Mulkey v. Reitman (1966) 64 Cal.2d

529 [aff’d (1967) 387 U.S. 369].)

Yet not even Proposition 14 sought to overturn a

nondiscrimination ruling of this Court. This appears to be the first

time the electorate has tried that, seeking to trump this Court’s

constitutional power and duty to “say what the law is” on the question

of what constitutes unlawful discrimination. This case therefore

appears to be unprecedented in its means of presenting the stark

question: W ho really has the ultimate power to decide the meaning

of existing provisions in our Constitution, the judicial branch, or a

simple majority of voters?

The answer should be self-evident, once the question is

posed.

65
 This Court’s observation in Wallace v. Zinman (1927) 200 Cal.

585, though made in a different context, seems particularly

appropriate here:

W e have a state government with three departments, each to

check upon the others, and it would be subversive of the very
foundation purposes of our government to permit an initiative
act of any type to throw out of gear our entire legal
mechanism. Our common sense makes us rebel at the
suggestion.

(Id. at p. 593.)

That, in a nutshell, is what this case is about.

The issues here have far deeper implications for our system of

government than the Marriage Cases did. But the result must be the

same, for the judiciary to preserve its constitutionally mandated role

as the final arbiter of our Constitution.

Amicus strongly supports the petitioners in asking this Court to

declare that Proposition 8 violates the Separation of Powers Clause,

and the revision provisions of Article XVIII.

Respectfully submitted this 13th day of January, 2009.

S. Michelle May
Counsel for Amicus Curiae
Sacramento Lawyers for Equality of Gays and
Lesbians (“Sac LEGAL”)

66
 DECLARATION OF WORD COUNT

S. Michelle May declares: I am counsel for amicus curiae Sac

LEGAL in this appeal. My address is 3104 O St. # 245, Sacramento
CA 95816.

The length of this brief is 13,975 words under the computation

set forth in the Rules of Court, as stated by the word processing
software used to prepare the brief, which was prepared in
W ordPerfect 12.

I declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the State of

California that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed this 13th
day of January, 2009.

S. Michelle May

ix
 DECLARATION OF SERVICE BY MAIL

S. Michelle May declares: I am counsel for amicus curiae Sac

LEGAL in this appeal. My address is 3104 O St. # 245, Sacramento,
California 95816. On January 13, 2009, I served this APPLICATION
AND BRIEF AMICUS CURIAE OF SACRAMENTO LAW YERS FOR
EQUALITY OF GAYS AND LESBIANS (“SAC LEGAL”) IN
SUPPORT OF PETITIONERS by sending copies in the U.S. Mail
(first-class or priority), postage paid, to the following.

(For each such counsel, in addition to hard copy service described

above, a courtesy email copy with this application and proposed brief
attached in .pdf format was sent to counsel’s last known email address.
This is done and intended purely as an extra courtesy due to the time
constraints in this case, and is not intended to replace rule-based service.)

Counsel of record in S168047 - Petitioners

Shannon Minter, Esq.

National Center for Lesbian Rights
870 Market Street, Suite 370
San Francisco, CA 94102

Gregory D. Phillips, Esq.

Munger, Tolles & Olson, LLP
355 S Grand Avenue, 35th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90071-1560

Jon W . Davidson, Esq.

Lambda Legal Defense & Education Foundation
3325 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1300
Los Angeles, CA 90010

Alan L. Schlosser, Esq.

ACLU Foundation of Northern California, Inc.
39 Drumm Street
San Francisco, CA 94111

Mark D. Rosenbaum, Esq.

ACLU Foundation of Southern California
1313 W. 8th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90017

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John D. Blair-Loy, Esq.
ACLU Foundation of San Diego and Imperial Counties
P.O. Box 87131
San Diego, CA 92138-7131

David C. Codell, Esq.

9200 Sunset Boulevard, Penthouse Two
Los Angeles, CA 90069

Stephen V. Bomse, Esq.

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP
405 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA 94105-2669

Counsel of Record in S168066 - Petitioners

Michael Maroko, Esq.

Allred Maroko & Goldberg
6300 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1500
Los Angeles, CA 90048

Counsel of Record in S168078 - Petitioners

Therese M. Stewart, Esq.

Office of the City Attorney
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, #234
San Francisco, CA 94102-4682

Jerome B. Falk, Esq.

Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk & Rabkin
Three Embarcadero Center, 7th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94111-4024

Juniper Lesnik, Esq.

Office of the County Counsel, Impact Litigation Fellow
70 W est Hedding Street - East W ing, Ninth Floor
San Jose, CA 95110-1770

David J. Michaelson, Esq.

Chief Assitant City Attorney
200 N. Main Street
City Hall East, Room 800
Los Angeles, CA 90012

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Judy W elch W hitehurst, Esq.
Office of the County Counsel
648 Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration
500 W est Temple Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Counsel of Record in All Cases (Respondents and Intervenors)

Mark R. Beckington, Esq.

Deputy Attorney General
1300 I Street, Suite 125
P.O. Box 944255
Sacramento, CA 94244-2550

Andrew P. Pugno, Esq.

101 Parkshore Drive Suite 100
Folsom, CA 95630-4726

Kenneth W . Starr, Esq.

24569 Via De Casa
Malibu, CA 90265-3205

Counsel of Record in S168078 (Respondents)

Kenneth C. Mennemeier, Esq.

Mennemeier, Glassman & Stroud, LLP
980 Ninth Street, Suite 1700
Sacramento, CA 95814-2736

I declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the State of

California that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed this 13th
day of January, 2009.

S. Michelle May

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