Saturday, June 27, 2009

First Amended Complaint in State Class Action Lawsuit Filed in California Challenging New Constitutional Amendment Limiting Marriage to Heterosexuals

06/26/09 PR Newswire (press release of Law Offices of Waukeen Q. McCoy):

On June 26th, plaintiff attorney Waukeen McCoy filed an amended complaint in the class action lawsuit Burns v. State of California (San Francisco Sup. Ct., Case No. CGC-08-481908, filed 11/14/08). McCoy represented plaintiffs in the In re Marriage Cases, the California Supreme Court decision that invalidated statutes limiting marriage to heterosexual couples.

This lawsuit [now] claims that section 7.5 of Article I [of the California constitution, setting out the language of Prop. 8] violates the equal protection clause of the State Constitution. McCoy said, "we chose to bring this lawsuit in State Court rather than in Federal Court because sexual orientation is a protected class under California State Law and it is not recognized in Federal Law."

The amended complaint is not (yet) available at the website of the San Francisco Superior Court, so it is unclear whether McCoy has somehow raised an equal-protection issue that the California Supreme Court has not already decided in Srauss v. Horton. Unless he has, the Superior Court will likely dismiss the case, and the dismissal will likely be sustained if appealed.

The lawsuit began as a challenge to the state constitutionality of Prop. 8.

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