Professor Teresa Stanton Collett discusses CA marriage ruling on NPR
Professor Teresa Stanton Collett of the St. Thomas School of Law appeared on NPR on Monday the 19th to discuss the California marriage ruling. Other guests on the show included Atlantic blogger Andrew Sullivan, Professor Andrew Koppelman of Northwestern, and Jessie Choper of UC Berkeley. NPR’s intro:
Same-sex marriage is legal in California, at least until November, when voters are likely to get the chance to overturn last week’s ruling by the state supreme court. The Massachusetts Supreme Court was first, back in 2003, the only other state that’s legalized same-sex marriage. But the ruling in California went further, saying that discrimination against homosexuals is the same as racial discrimination. Many gays and lesbians are celebrating the opinion by Chief Justice Ron George, a former prosecutor appointed by a Republican Governor. Does the decision nullify “the will of the people,” since a statewide same-sex marriage ban passed overwhelmingly eight years ago? Can the people nullify the court that nullified them? What’s the likely impact on other states and the presidential campaign?