ANALYSIS
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Calif. Prop 8 Back in Court Tomorrow
By Harry Kimball
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Posted Mar 4, 09 3:34 PM CST
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(Newser)
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Protesters around California are gearing up for tomorrow's state Supreme Court session on the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the voter referendum that banned gay marriage, the Los Angeles Times reports. The decision isn’t due for 3 months, but the opinion is already written, and the court's stand may be revealed in the judges' responses to oral arguments, which will be televised.
Legal scholars see many possible outcomes, but only one likely one: that the court will uphold Prop 8, but not strip already-married same-sex couples of their marriage rights. The present court is the same one that authorized gay marriage last May, but they aren't expected to have the votes to overturn the ban. One scholar thinks the only way to give gays equality and uphold Prop 8 is to replace the term “marriage” with something else, and apply it to all couples. Otherwise, you “rewrite the Constitution in a way that undermines a basic principle of equality.”