Panel: N.J. should OK same-sex marriages

12/10/08 Star-Ledger News: "The final report of the New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission [not yet released] says it gathered 'overwhelming evidence' that the civil union law not only fails to provide the same protections as marriage, it also has created economic, medical and emotional hardships for gay couples.

Jay Sekulow on "Proposition 8: Respecting the Will of the People"

12/3/08 Lynn v. Sekulow blog*: Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the the American Center for Law & Justice, views legal challenges to Prop. 8 as another "example of a court being asked to improperly usurp the will of the people."


*"Lynn v. Sekulow is an ongoing debate blog--a blogalogue--about how big (or little) a role faith and religion should play in American politics and government, featuring the two leading voices of the church/state battle: American Center for Law & Justice Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow and Americans United for Separation of Church and State Executive Director Rev. Barry W. Lynn."

A civil right or moral issue? Marriage-rights activists draw link to other efforts

12/10/08 The Desert Sun (Palm Springs): Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, finds it "offensive to frame [same-sex marriage] as a civil rights issue." He considers it a "moral issue" instead. The Desert Sun identifies Barbara Cox as a "national authority on sexual orientation and the law and professor at California Western School of Law in San Diego." Cox responds to one reason for viewing same-sex marriage as a moral issue - that gays choose to be gay: "My response is that heterosexuals don't believe they choose to be straight." She adds that religious affiliation also reflects a choice, a choice involving rights that are"strictly protected."

Attorneys conclude Iowa Supreme Court arguments in gay marriage case

12/9/08 DesMoinesRegister.com: This article has a summary of today's oral arguments, and a link to the Des Moines Register's video of the arguments.

“How do you stop?” asked Justice Mark Cady. “How do you stop more than two people from getting married?”

KCCI.com, a website of a local Des Moines television station, posts a 12/10/08 article, Justices Hear Historic Same-Sex Marriage Case. “The plaintiffs, in their circular reasoning, failed to answer the question, why should this court and these seven justices establish public policy in Iowa,” said Douglas Napier, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund.

See also the 12/10/08 Family Law Prof Law Blog, "Updates on Same-Sex Marriage: Iowa, NJ, California."

Vikram Amar and Alan Brownstein: The Core Issues in the Proposition 8 Case Before the California Supreme Court: Part Two in a Series

12/05/08 Findlaw's Writ: In this second article in a multi-part series on the legal challenges to Prop. 8, UC Davis Law Professors and constitutional scholars Vikram Amar and Alan Brownstein address the following question:

Was Proposition 8 a Valid Amendment, or an Invalid Revision, to the California Constitution? And Should the Court - Or Governor Schwarzenegger - Make the Decision?

Nossaman attorney Jan Vaughn Mock on "Domestic Partnership: Separate, Unequal"

12/05/08 The Recorder (subscription required): Attorney Jan Vaughn Mock finds no equivalence between domestic partnerships and marriage, as "proponents of constitutional discrimination would have you believe."

Proposition 8 Draws on Parallels To Prohibition, Some Scholars Say

12/05/08 Daily Journal (subscription required): Erwin Chemerinsky, founding dean of UC Irvine School of Law, finds an analogy between the likely fate of Prop. 8 and the 21st Amendment, repealing prohibition. He believes that just as majority moral sentiment reversed itself on prohibition , so it is already reversing itself on gay marriage. Other legal scholars dispute or support Chemerinksy's anlogy, including John C. Eastman, dean of Chapman University School of Law, and David Cruz, a constitutional law professor at USC's Gould School of Law.