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NewsroomThe Bar Association of San Francisco and Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom Announce Overwhelming Support for Resolution Against Prop 8 Resolution was presented at Conference of Delegates of California Bar Associations September 26
Presented by Morrison & Foerster partner James Brosnahan and authored by Shay Aaron Gilmore, Carroll Burdick & McDonough and James Weixel, Law Office of James Weixel, the resolution's first argument against Proposition 8 is that marriage is a fundamental civil right. The resolution also went on to state that the proponents of Proposition 8 have stated that the Marriage Cases decision is the product of an out-of-control, activist court. The resolution argued that point stating, “The California Supreme Court, in the Marriage Cases, was presented with legal issues concerning the constitutionality of certain provisions of the California Family Code. Proposition 8, like other attempts to place laws into the California Constitution, would remove from the judiciary this inherent function to assure that our laws are constitutional.” The third argument of the resolution states that “Proposition 8 is unconstitutional as it seeks to revise the Constitution, not to amend it. The right to marry is a constitutionally protected right, guaranteed to all individuals and couples regardless of religion, race, gender or sexual orientation. The attempt to remove the constitutional right from one group – same-gender couples – is a comprehensive change to our Constitution.” According to BASF President-Elect and Chair of BASF's Marriage Fairness Task Force Russell Roeca, Roeca Haas Hager LLP, “The issue is simple: Equality for all. The day we would write discrimination into our Constitution would be a sad day for California and all of America . And that is precisely what Proposition 8 proposes. We will not allow it to happen. The conference made it clear. It is our duty as lawyers to educate our communities, to protect our Constitution, and to protect equality for all.” Download the resolution.
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