Dear All;
A little FYI in that all the final legal briefs in the Prop. 8
court battle have been filed. All 63 of them 20 pro
and 43 con. The state supreme court hearings are
expected some time in March.
That is if the justices eyes don't totally glaze over from
reading all 63 court briefs - both pro and con.
No matter which way they vote - they are up for
election - ah yes politics. Remember what
happened to Rose Bird? Who? Check it
out history wise.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Bird
They'll end up making the wrong decision
for one group or the other group. Then it's
toast time - and I do mean like toaster toast
- totally toasted - by one group or the other.
So - you wanna be a judge - hunh? Yeah right!
http://cbs5.com/local/proposition.8.lawsuit.2.914684.html
http://snipurl.com/airxn [cbs5_com]
Ron Getty - SF Libertarian
Hostis res Publica
Morte ai Tiranni
Dum Spiro, Pugno
I think that Wikipedia article included the correct angle on the Bird
"recall" (I know that's not really what it was, but that's what I've
heard people call it instead of "failed reconfirmation") -- namely
that she would have stayed in office if not for business interests
going after her for messing with contract law.
This backs up my long-held belief that the courts are the one place
where voters don't mind electing (l)ibertarians to office. This was
even true where I grew up in Tennessee. In 1996 it was the Tennessee
Supreme Court that finally overturned sodomy laws (1996!!! At least we
beat Texas, no thanks to Al and Tipper who supported Tennessee's
sodomy law). But had they, for instance, tried to do that at the same
time as ruling a state income tax constitutional, they would have been
booted.
And while I do think that if the court strikes down Prop 8 on
procedural grounds, some right-wing jerks will go after them in the
next election, I don't think there will be a serious challenge to them
if they uphold Prop 8. Certainly, I didn't hear much anti-judge
outrage when they invalidated Newsom's 2004 same-sex marriages. The
left is just like the right in that it takes advantage of "activist
judges" whenever possible, but less hypocritical than the right in
that they rarely cry about "judicial activism" when it's used against
them.
Regardless, I'm hopeful that the court will strike down Prop 8 for not
going through the proper channel for a "revision" instead of an
"amendment". I don't have any money left to support this:
http://www.yesonequality.com/
Rob