So much for upholding state law. California Attorney General Jerry Brown has asked the state Supreme Court to overturn Prop 8. After initially saying he would "defend the proposition as enacted by the people of California," the same-sex marriage proponent has devised a novel legal theory arguing against the state's ban on same-sex marriage. It goes like this: the California Constitution protects certain "inalienable" rights (marriage included) and while voters are allowed to amend the Constitution by majority vote, allowing them to take away an "inalienable" right would establish a tyranny of the majority, exactly the kind of thing the Constitution was designed to protect against. "This analysis was not evident on the morning after the election," Brown said. And there's a reason—it's wacky. Brown's argument "turns constitutional law on its head," said Santa Clara University law professor Gerald Uelmen, who expects the Supreme Court to reject the argument. "I think it is much too radical for this court," he said. Of course, if the fight fails, Brown has always got his 2010 gubernatorial campaign to carry it on.
Read it at Los Angeles Times
