ADF Brief: Authority to amend Calif. constitution resides with the peoplehttp://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4801 ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND NEWS RELEASE
ADF attorneys submit brief defending Proposition 8 Brief points out that authority to amend constitution in Calif. resides with the people
SAN FRANCISCO — Alliance Defense Fund attorneys submitted a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of the Family Research Council Thursday in defense of California’s marriage amendment. The brief demonstrates that the authority to amend the constitution in California resides with the people and that this was legitimately done by the people in the passage of Proposition 8. “In America, we respect the results of fair elections,” said ADF Senior Counsel Brian Raum. “The will of the people expressed in Proposition 8, which restored the definition of marriage to the California Constitution, should be respected. The constitution itself makes it clear that the people have this authority.” “The lawsuits against the amendment should be seen for what they are: ongoing efforts by activists to redefine marriage, which is precisely what the voters of California have expressed they don’t want,” Raum said. The California Supreme Court ruled on Nov. 19 that it would not temporarily suspend the application of Proposition 8 and granted a motion by defenders of Proposition 8, led by ADF-allied attorney Andy Pugno, to intervene in a lawsuit filed against the new marriage amendment (www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4756). Multiple lawsuits filed with the high court–including Strauss v. Horton, Tyler v. State of California, and City of San Francisco v. Horton–claim that Proposition 8 illegally revised the constitution instead of amending it to restore the definition of marriage used throughout the history of the state. According to the FRC brief submitted by ADF attorneys, “The novel legal theories presented by Petitioners and the Attorney General threaten to undermine California’s basic form of government. They seek to erode the sovereignty of the people–the authors and ultimate arbiters of the Constitution–and transfer that authority to the judiciary.” The brief “asks this Court to exercise the judiciary’s greatest strength in a republic–the exercise of self-restraint.” The full text of the brief is available at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/HortonBrief.pdf. ADF attorneys were involved in defending Proposition 8 from attack prior to the election and also defended California’s Defense of Marriage Act, Proposition 22, before it was struck down by the California Supreme Court in May 2008. ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.
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