Perry Case

Last Friday the Plaintiffs in the Proposition 8 case filed their opposition to petition for certiorari in the United States Supreme Court. Plaintiffs argue that the case is not a good one for review by the highest court because the Ninth Circuit, whose opinion would be appealed, addressed a very specific situation in California, the circuit ruling does not make any new law, and because there is no conflict among circuits on the matter. As you recall, the Ninth Circuit's ruling in this case very carefully does not say states must allow homosexuals to marry under the Equal Protection clause or Due Process clause. In its opinion, that circuit court merely follows the Supreme Court's rationale in the Romer case by holding that there was no rational basis for the California public to rescind the right of homosexuals to marry. A right they had previously enjoyed.