A judge’s ruling on California’s controversial same-sex marriage law would likely not happen to a similar law passed by Arizona voters in 2008, according to an ASU professor.
Both California’s law — a referendum passed in 2008 known as Proposition 8 — and Arizona’s law — Proposition 102 — are state constitutional amendments outlawing same-sex marriage.
ASU law professor Charles Calleros said the unusual way Proposition 8 went through the legal system could lessen the chances of a similar ruling in Arizona.
The major issue is the order of events that turned Proposition 8 into a law, Calleros said. The referendum that made same-sex marriage illegal came after the California Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage was legal.
If the judge of a future case finds that the referendum was an act of hostility toward a minority group that was previously granted rights, it would make the California ruling void in states where a similar situation did not occur, Calleros said.
On Aug. 4, Vaughn Walker, chief judge of the Northern District of California, declared Proposition 8 unconstitutional. The proposition states: “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”
“Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license,” Walker’s ruling states. “Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California constitution the notion that opposite sex couples are superior to same sex couples.”
ASU’S LGBTQA Specialist Lisa Pittari said Walker’s ruling will likely go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“It’s hard to say what impact this will have on Arizona’s laws, if any,” Pittari said.
Arizona’s Proposition 102 states: “Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state.”
Proposition 102 wasn’t Arizona’s first attempt at declaring same-sex marriage illegal through a constitutional amendment. A similar proposition was introduced in 2006, but was voted down by a slim margin.
That measure stated: “To preserve and protect marriage in this state, only a union between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage … and no legal status for unmarried persons shall be created or recognized by this state or its political subdivisions that is similar to that of marriage.”
While many states have similar policies on same-sex marriage, every one is slightly different.
The Defense of Marriage Act, which Congress passed in 1996, resulted in many different policies across the country.
Through DOMA, the federal government defines marriage as “a legal union between one man and one woman for purposes of all federal laws.”
DOMA also does not require states to recognize couples of the same sex from other states.
Thirty-seven states have their own versions of DOMA, and 30 states have constitutional amendments outlawing same-sex marriage.
Reach the reporter at connor.radnovich@asu.edu
