The LA Times reports:
Experts see a period of ‘legal chaos’ on the issue. A challenge to existing marriages would raise novel questions, so no one is certain how courts would rule . . .
Opponents of Proposition 8 could also challenge the entire initiative in federal court, and the ruling there could be appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. If the high court found the measure constitutional, the California Supreme Court would still probably determine the fate of existing marriages.
Glen Lavy, senior counsel to the Alliance Defense Fund, which is advising proponents of the measure, complained that “what we are going to have is legal chaos.” He faulted the state high court for not suspending implementation of its gay marriage ruling until after the election . . .
But after researching the issue, New York University law professor Kenji Yoshino, who favors same-sex marriage, concluded that the U.S. Constitution would offer few protections to existing gay marriages if Proposition 8 passed.
“My hope going into this was that I would find a smoking gun case that would say those marriages would be protected,” Yoshino said. “I kept looking and looking and looking, and when I couldn’t find one, I was astonished.” . . .
