Yesterday, I linked to the LA Times article that explains what we need to know about both sides of the Prop 8 arguments being presented tomorrow. Today, the the LA Times is explaining what we should be looking for during the hearings (remember you can watch online):
The California Supreme Court may reveal Thursday whether it intends to uphold Proposition 8, and if so, whether an estimated 18,000 same-sex marriages will remain valid, during a high-stakes televised session that has sparked plans for demonstrations throughout the state.
By now, the court already has drafted a decision on the case, with an author and at least three other justices willing to sign it. Oral arguments sometimes result in changes to the draft, but rarely do they change the majority position. The ruling is due in 90 days.
Chief Justice Ronald M. George, who wrote the historic May 15, 2008, decision that gave same-sex couples the right to marry, will be the one to watch during the hearing because he is often in the majority and usually writes the rulings in the most controversial cases.
Most legal analysts expect that the court will garner enough votes to uphold existing marriages but not enough to overturn Proposition 8. The dissenters in May’s 4-3 marriage ruling said the decision should be left to the voters.
With Attorney General Jerry Brown’s alternative argument, the California legislature’s passing of resolutions calling for a repeal of Prop 8, and the revision argument, I just don’t see how the justices can rule against us. Right now, I’m with Kate Kendell, executive director of the San Francisco’s National Center for Lesbian Rights who said, “It is difficult to imagine, although obviously plausible, that the majority of justices who ruled in the marriage cases would so quickly endorse an undermining of at least a significant portion of their ruling.”
But, I suppose it could be as easy as what Kenneth Starr’s wrote in his final brief: “The people ultimately decided. Under our system of constitutional government, that is the end of the matter.”
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