Ken Starr: The People Can Do Stupid Things

The bulk of Ken Starr's argument in favor of invalidating the 18,000 same-sex marriages that took place in the state of California before Prop. 8 was passed seems to hinge on one thought. Though the people may make stupid decisions, they "have the raw power to do it."

Case in point: Chief Justice Ronald George counters with a hypothetical. The voters decide to do away with free speech from the First Amendment. Is that an amendment or a revision, and do the people have the right to do it?

After much banter back and forth, Starr says they do.

When the justices counter and ask Starr if his argument would be the same had Prop. 8 stripped gays and lesbians of all the rights they enjoy under California law, he assures the justices the proposition did not -- but says that his argument would indeed be the same.





The Religious Implications of Marriage


In discussing the argument that the people of California have a problem with extending marriage rights to same-sex couples because of the word's "religious" implications, one of the justices suggested stripping all Californians of the word "marriage" and entering couples into "civil unions" or "domestic partnerships."

Would it solve the problem? Yes, Ken Starr argues -- it would solve the problem.

But the issue at hand, he says, is whether or not the people of California have the right to pass a proposition like Prop. 8 -- and by his reasoning, they do, simply because Californians have the right to essentially govern themselves.