Theodore Olson
In San Francisco today a three-judge panel of The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled what was, duh, obvious: Proposition 8 violates equal protection under the law and therefore is unconstitutional.
“Although the Constitution permits communities to enact most laws they believe to be desirable, it requires that there be at least a legitimate reason for the passage of a law that treats different people differently,” Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote in the decision. “There was no such reason that Proposition 8 could have been enacted.
“All that Proposition 8 accomplished was to take away from same sex-couples the right to be granted marriage licenses and thus legally to use the designation ‘marriage.’ Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gay men and lesbians in California.”
The legal team representing the American Foundation for Equal Rights and two same-sex couples who had brought the suit is ostensibly a contradiction in terms: Theodore B. Olson, former Solicitor General under George W. Bush and a Republican, and David Boies, a Democrat. The two had previously been combatants when the United States Supreme Court heard Bush v. Gore, the fight in FL over hanging chads, etc., which resulted in Bush ascending to the presidency.
Mr. Olson and Mr. Boies believe that they’re now headed back to the Supreme Court, on the same side, and feel confident that Ninth Circuit’s decision will be upheld.
David Boies
