The Screen Actors Guild has come out against a proposed amendment to the California constitution that would ban same-sex marriage, while 59 noted constitutional lawyers have issued a statement denouncing arguments being used by supporters of the measure.
The list of 59 law professors includes Erwin Chemerinsky, the Founding Dean of the University of California School of Law; Kathleen Sullivan, Former Dean of Stanford Law School; and Paul Brest, Dean Emeritus of Stanford Law School.
“We recognize that people of integrity can differ in their views of the meaning of marriage,” the legal scholars said in a joint statement. “But people who want to take the right to marry away from same-sex couples should not rely on misleading claims about the current state of the law or about what Proposition 8 would do.”
The statement said that the proposed amendment, known as Proposition 8, “clearly discriminates against gay men and lesbians.” The constitutional experts also said that the California Supreme Court ruling that opened up same-sex marriage has “no effect on the tax exemptions of churches” as claimed by the backers of the amendment. The statement further noted that ruling has no effect on teaching or parental rights.
“As teachers of the law we feel an obligation to speak out when claims are made about the law that are simply and clearly false,” said Professor Pam Karlan, the Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Professor of Public Interest Law at Stanford Law School.
State Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), a member of the House Judiciary Committee said that “the Prop. 8 campaign can’t produce a single respected expert to back up any of their preposterous claims.
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