NAACP Files Suit to Overturn Prop 8

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/14/08 at 8:54pm

This should help to change the perception of the blacks vs. gays thing.

===

SAN FRANCISCO—Five civil rights groups are seeking to have California's new same-sex marriage ban annulled on the grounds that Proposition 8 threatens the legal standing of all minority groups, not just gays.

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Mexican-American Legal Defense Fund, Asian Pacific American Legal Center and two other groups asked the state Supreme Court on Friday to issue a stay preventing the ballot initiative approved by voters last week from taking effect.

The petition is the fourth seeking to have the measure invalidated. But it's the first to argue that the court should step in because the gay marriage ban sets a constitutional precedent that could be used to undermine the rights of racial minorities.

The petition filed by Raymond C. Marshall of Bingham McCutchen and Prof. Tobias Barrington Wolff of University of Pennsylvania Law School on behalf of leading African American, Latino, and Asian American groups echo the arguments made in the November 5 lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights: Proposition 8 prevents the courts from exercising their essential constitutional role of enforcing the equal protection rights of minorities.

The California Constitution requires that any measure attempting to revise the underlying principles of the constitution must first be approved by a two-thirds vote of the legislature before being submitted to the voters. Proposition 8 was not approved through that constitutionally required process.

"Proposition 8 contradicts the most basic protection guaranteed by the California Constitution, which is the right to equal protection of the laws," said John Trasviña, President and General Counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. "We can not allow the Constitution to sanction discrimination against one group of people."

"Direct democracy cannot override the California Constitution, which requires more than a majority vote to deprive a minority group of their fundamental rights," said John A. Payton, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

"We cannot become a society that picks and chooses who is entitled to equal rights," said Alice A. Huffman, president of the California State NAACP. "We should include all people from all walks of life in the entitlement to all freedoms now enjoyed by the majority of our population As a civil rights advocate, we will continue the fight of eliminating roadblocks to freedom."

"Consistent with core equal protection principles, minority communities must not be stripped of their fundamental rights by bare majority rule," said Karin Wang, Vice-President of Programs for the Asian Pacific American Legal Center. "California went down this path before when the majority population chose to bar interracial marriages involving an unpopular minority: Asian immigrants. The state Constitution exists exactly for this reason - to protect the fundamental rights of minority communities."

"Let's not forget the landmark 1967 case of Loving v. Virginia, which allowed two people of different races to marry," said Paterson of the Equal Justice Society. "People then believed it was acceptable to keep Mildred Loving from marrying a white man because of their ideas of who should marry whom. We must not return to those times."

The court has precedent for invalidating an improper voter initiative. In 1990, the court overruled an initiative that would have added a provision to the California Constitution stating that the "Constitution shall not be construed by the courts to afford greater rights to criminal defendants than those afforded by the Constitution of the United States." That measure was invalid because it improperly attempted to strip California's courts of their role as independent interpreters of the state's constitution.

A copy of the writ petition filed today is available at http://equaljusticesociety.org/prop8 and http://www.apalc.org.

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (naacpldf.org) was founded in 1940 under the leadership of Thurgood Marshall. Although LDF's primary purpose was to provide legal assistance to poor African Americans, its work over the years has brought greater justice to all Americans.

Founded in 1968, MALDEF (maldef.org), the nation's leading Latino legal civil rights organization, promotes and protects the rights of Latinos through litigation, advocacy, community education and outreach, leadership development, and higher education scholarships.

The Asian Pacific American Legal Center (apalc.org) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for civil rights, providing legal services and education, and building coalitions to positively influence and impact Asian Pacific Americans and to create a more equitable and harmonious society. APALC is affiliated with the Asian American Justice Center, the Asian American Institute in Chicago, and the Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco.

The Equal Justice Society (equaljusticesociety.org) is a national strategy group heightening conscious on race in the law and popular discourse. Using a three-pronged strategy of law and public policy advocacy, cross-disciplinary convenings and strategic public communications, EJS seeks to restore race equity issues to the national consciousness, build effective progressive alliances, and advance the discourse on the positive role of government.
Asian Pacific American Legal Center, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Equal Justice Society, California NAACP and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund,

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 11/14/08 at 9:16pm

Nice!

[best12bars]

Posted: 11/14/08 at 9:18pm

This is pretty amazing.

I'm actually very moved by this.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/14/08 at 9:19pm

Word.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 11/15/08 at 2:55am

I'm so moved by this, I'm gay

[Biff AKA Levi]

Posted: 11/15/08 at 3:16am

I didn't read the entire original post, but I will add that the Mexicans and the Asain minority groups have also filed a suit against Prop 8.

I can't recall the exact names of these two groups, so forgive me.

[Q]

Posted: 11/15/08 at 3:27am

"I didn't read the entire original post"

How nice - and yet you decided to post a response.

AND have the temerity to call yourself a 'writer', even though you wont read 'all' of what someone else has written.

But you aren't worth the energy . . . SOOOOOO - hurray for what this signifies!

I really wonder if the 'time is at hand'. We've waited for quite awhile - is this it?!?

One can only hope . . .

[Biff AKA Levi]

Posted: 11/15/08 at 3:30am

If you hate me so much, why do you bother replying to my post?

One must wonder...

(BTW, I did read the post, and found out that the groups I mentioned in mine are listed. I apologize, PalJoey.)

[Q]

Posted: 11/15/08 at 3:34am

I just respond to your inane posts, you ignorant fool.

And then you post that you went back and read it - who cares?!?

[Biff AKA Levi]

Posted: 11/15/08 at 3:34am

You do, obviously.

You need to remove the stick from your ass, asshole.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/15/08 at 11:37am

I apologize, PalJoey.

No need to apologize. I'm used to people not reading all of my posts.

At any rate, the other two groups are the Mexican-American Legal Defense Fund and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center.

[EugLoven]

Posted: 11/15/08 at 12:09pm

Holy crap, this is excellent news.
I'm getting so anxious though...
When will we hear ANYTHING from the courts in reply? Response?

We've got Lambda, NAACP, ACLU and thousands of protesting people... with no word from the legal side yet...

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/15/08 at 12:20pm

Shakespeare has Hamlet complain about "the law's delay."

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/15/08 at 11:55pm

There was a wonderful speaker at our rally today (who I only heard, but couldn't see. These Chicago rallies are great, but people need to learn that a platform of some sort will help sightlines when people are speaking) I THINK he name was Marc Loveless. He's African American and he really called for racial unity, which was rather inspiring. His was the most ... raucous, maybe? of the speeches.

I ain't sayin' there isn't racism EVERYWHERE, but what I say today transcended it. And, interestingly enough, I just saw a reverend on last night's Larry King, who was African-American, and I saw how easily the situation could be manipulated to manufacture even MORE friction between the races to benefit the h8rs.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/16/08 at 5:59pm

Dan Savage took him on very persuasively on the King show. Savage remained impassioned and full of outrage without becoming red-faced and belligerent, remarkably. Savage has proven an extraordinary spokesperson/advocate for this since the election. I wish Rachel Maddow would have him on (has she?)

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 11/16/08 at 6:08pm

I totally agree with you about Dan Savage, Auggie. As far as I know he has not been on Rachel Maddow.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 11/16/08 at 6:12pm

Good for them!


I'm posting this again here in case someone doesn't go to the other thread:

Doubletree Hotel Santa Ana/Orange County Airport
201 East MacArthur Blvd.
Santa Ana, California 92707
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
1-800-222-TREE
[e-mail]



To Whom It May Concern:

A video was posted on You Tube on November14th, 2008, which shows the supporters of Proposition 8 standing behind a podium from your Doubletree Hotel in Santa Ana, with your logo proudly on display.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU8uuPhQog0

This video is filled with lies, and many libelous statements.

I am asking that you have them remove the video from You Tube, as it makes it look as if your hotel is promoting their brand of bigotry. If that is the case, then I will no longer be spending money at any of your hotels.

Please let me know how you plan on dealing with this situation.