Opinion article by Prop. 8 plaintiff Robin Tyler, "A Case About Justice"

03/02/09 SF Chroncle: "Robin Tyler and her wife, Diane Olson, of Los Angeles, were plaintiffs in the lawsuit that won marriage equality for same-sex couples in California. They now are plaintiffs in the California Supreme Court case to overturn Proposition 8."

Proposition 8 to be Subject of 20th Annual Rutgers State Constitutional Law Lecture on April 1

03/02/09 Rutgers University press release: "Vikram Amar, a prominent national authority on state constitutional law and civil procedure, will deliver the 20th annual State Constitutional Law Lecture at the Rutgers School of Law—Camden at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 1."

AP: "Deja new: Prop. 8 challenge reaches Calif. court"

03/2/09 AP (as posted to SF Examiner):

"Legal observers, even some gay marriage opponents, say they think the court may be reluctant to void existing marriages.

" 'There is no question, for a period of time, there was same-sex marriage in California, albeit a very short period of time,' said James Sweeney, a constitutional lawyer in Sacramento who represents the California Catholic Conference."

Pregaming the Prop. 8 Arguments: A Look at the Lawyers

03/02/09 Wall Street Journal Law Blog: "Loyal LB readers should already have their Tivos set to the California Channel this Thursday for the California Supreme Court arguments over Proposition 8, the legislation that passed in November banning same-sex marriage. But for those on the fence, here’s another reason to tune in: to check out the lawyers."

Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence to speak on “Proposition 8 and the California Supreme Court: The Battle to Defend Marriage”

03/02/09 ADF Alliance Alert: "In 2004," this Alert reads, "Lorence argued successfully before the California Supreme Court in the lawsuit that declared the city of San Francisco to be in violation of state law by issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples–a ruling that sparked the litigation that later resulted in the court’s decision to legalize same-sex 'marriage' before voters approved Proposition 8." He will address Southwestern Law School students tomorrow at noon.

Three Law Deans Debate Prop 8 at Southwestern on April 13th

Southwestern Law School press release: "The Beverly Hills Bar Association (BHBA) will present a debate on California's Proposition 8 on Monday, April 13 at 6:30 p.m. in the Louis XVI Room. The program will feature Dean John Eastman of Chapman University School of Law arguing for, and Dean Erwin Chemerinsky of the University of California, Irvine School of Law arguing against the heated initiative regarding the right of same-sex couples to marry. Moderating the event will be Southwestern's own Dean Garth."

Mayor of a small town in New York tried to marry same-sex couples 5 years ago: "battles persist in courts, at the polls around the country"

03/02/09 Poughkeepsie Journal: "Starting Feb. 27, 2004, and continuing over the next month, more than 150 same-sex couples were married in New Paltz, [New York] first by [village Mayor Jason] West and later - after West was barred by a court order - by other village officials and two Unitarian ministers. Ultimately, none of the same-sex marriages that took place in New Paltz was ever declared legal. In 2006, New York's highest court, the Court of Appeals, upheld a state law declaring a marriage must be between a man and a woman." [Hernandez v. Robles, 7 NY3d 338 (2006)]

This article describes the experiences of the community in the aftermath of West's historic action. West acted a month after San Francisco Mayor Galvin Newsom challenged California's marriage law by marrying same-sex couples. Nevertheless, Susan Sommer, an attorney for Lambda Legal, said that national publicity "really took off when it happened in a small upstate town. People around the country were riveted by seeing the mayor of a little community standing up for same-sex couples, a lot of gay couples began to see the issue as a real possibility that was within reach and not a hypothetical concept."

Brian Raum, senior litigation counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, leads ADF's legal challenge to overturn New York's recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions where they are legal. Sommer has said of this undertaking that ADF has been "out of step with New York law, New York principles, New York courts, New York government. Enough is enough." In fact, Sommer has successfully opposed ADF in a lawsuit that ADF brought against the State University of New York at New Paltz, for issuing health care benefits to the family of an employee who was married to a same-sex spouse in Canada. (As of January 30th, ADF was planning to appeal the case to the New York Court of Appeals.)

"Since 2004, we have seen 30 states pass marriage amendments (banning gay marriage) and none that have not passed," said Raum, "People have decided by a wide majority that they believe marriage is exclusively between a man and a woman. When you submit the question to the electorate, that's what they decide."

I credit ADF's monitoring service for alerting me to this article.