Press Release from Liberty Counsel: CA Supreme Court Rewrites the Definition of Marriage

May 15, 2008

The California Supreme Court Rewrites the Definition of Marriage - California voters may have the last word

www.LC.org

Today, the California Supreme Court abandoned the rule of law and common sense when it handed down a 4-3 decision that rewrote the definition of marriage, allowing “marriages” between same-sex couples. This ruling will unite the people of California and will propel their efforts to amend the state constitution. In the meantime, we will ask the Court to issue a stay on its decision until November when the voters have a right to decide the fate of marriage.

California residents have submitted petitions to place a state constitutional marriage amendment on the November ballot. If the requisite number is certified in the next few weeks, California voters will have the opportunity to amend their state constitution so that it expressly defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Such an amendment is necessary to protect marriage from being undermined by a mere majority of four justices of the California Supreme Court.

On March 4, 2008, Mathew D. Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, presented oral argument at the California Supreme Court in defense of the marriage laws. Liberty Counsel has been involved in the case from the beginning, in February 2004.

Read the Court’s opinion: PDF .