They're trying to outlaw Prop 8, and it went to court today.

CA Supreme Court Poised to Consider Marriage Amendment

ACLJ (American Center for Law and Justice) Working to Uphold Proposition 8
March 4, 2009

Washington, DC) -- California’s Proposition 8 - defining marriage as only between a man and a woman - may have passed in November, but the fight to keep it enacted continues. The issue is before the California Supreme Court again this week. And in January, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), filed an amicus brief on behalf of several members of California’s Congressional delegation to uphold the decision made on California’s Election Day, upholding the marriage amendment.


“The fact is that the voters of California took appropriate and constitutional action when they approved a valid amendment codifying marriage as an institution between one man and one woman,” said Vincent McCarthy, ACLJ Senior Counsel. “The challenge to this amendment is legally flawed and improperly rejects the will of California voters. We’re hopeful the California Supreme Court will take the action necessary to uphold this amendment and clear the way for its implementation.
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In its amicus brief in support of Proposition 8, the ACLJ represents itself and three members of the U.S. House of Representatives from California: Rep. Dan Lungren, representing CA 3rd District and former Attorney General for California; Rep. Wally Herger, representing CA 2nd District; and Rep. George Radanovich, representing CA 19th District.


Opponents claim Proposition 8 is invalid because it is a revision of the constitution and not an amendment. However, the ACLJ contends that this argument doesn’t hold up - and expects the California Supreme Court to agree.


“The amendment involves no redistribution of authority among the branches of state government, no interior ‘wholesale diversion from the stated original purpose of the constitution.’ Plenty of other amendments have required change at least as sweeping as Proposition 8 and the court has rarely demurred,” said McCarthy.


The ACLJ brief contends that Proposition 8 is a validly enacted amendment that “does not create far reaching, sweeping, or profound changes in the state's constitutional scheme. Rather, it merely confirms the historically recognized scope of a single right recognized in the California Constitution - the right to marry - as encompassing only those unions ‘between a man and a woman.
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“Proposition 8 only clarifies what has been the status quo of marital rights under the California constitution since its adoption in 1850,” said McCarthy.


Led by Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, the American Center for Law and Justice focuses on constitutional law and is based in Washington, D.C.