CA Congress Approves Resolution to Overturn Prop 8

Just days before the case on Prop 8 goes to the California Supreme Court, the California Senate has approved a resolution calling on the state Supreme Court to declare the measure - which bans same-sex marriage - illegal because it is an improver revision of the Constitution due to it not being approved by the Legislature. The House had approved its version of the resolution earlier.

Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) said the initiative is a fundamental revision to the document, not an amendment, which requires a two-thirds vote of both legislative houses to put it on the ballot.

"Do we have a constitutional democracy in California, or do we have mob rule?" Leno inquired of his colleagues. The resolution was approved with an 18-14 vote.

“Both houses of the legislature recognize that Proposition 8 undermines the fundamental principle of equal protection guaranteed by the California constitution,” Leno said. “Proposition 8’s revision to the California constitution violated key structural checks and balances in the state’s legal system when it was approved by a slim majority of voters last November. If Proposition 8 stands, we would be setting a dangerous precedent in California that allows a majority of the people to deny equal protection under the law to a minority of Californians.”

The state Supreme Court is scheduled to take up a legal challenge to the ballot measure Thursday, March 5.

Republican senators said the resolution was an inappropriate attempt by the Legislature to influence the courts.