californians will still have a chance to vote on this matter in the Nov election (gay marriage), I am curious though if the state court approves this (long term) then does the federal goverment still have the opportunity to step in and arrest pepole since it is not approved by the Supreme Court? I mean we passed the marijuana law here but the feds still have jurasdiction over the state..what are your thoughts?
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I believe they passed Medical Marijuana which is a frigging joke because now people are coming out of the wood work claiming the only thing that takes pain away is Pot. Kids at 10 years of age are smoking pot with their parents in Willit and Eureka. It’s sickening.
Federal laws trump state laws, always. California’s recent ruling doesn’t do much, the state already provides domestic partnerships guaranteeing gays the ability to enter into a union that gives them the same benefits and perception a married couple receives. California also additionally requires that these unions be recognized by all states, but it can’t enforce that, it can’t make laws for other states.
The state should have the right to make the ultimate call (as envisioned by the founding fathers), but the feds have seized power from the states over the last 200 years.
Even with the feds overseeing the marijuana enforcement, it is difficult to seat a jury in California that will actually vote to convict. So the will of people still applies.
As for gay marriage, I think the state should take advantage of the ruling and raise the fee for a marriage license to $10,000 for all couples, regardless of straight or homosexual. Use the funds to pay down the state debt.
Straight couples can still go to Nevada and get a license for about $75. And the increased fee would prevent same sex couples from making a mockery out of marriage. Those who are truly in love will pay the fee no matter how much it costs.
There is no ballot referendum on ssm scheduled for this year in CA, although there might be by the deadline.
If approved, it would halt things for a while, but ultimately will be found unconstitutional at the Federal level.
This entire debate is but an echo of the interracial marriage debate of decades past – the same CA supreme Court got that ball rolling with a near identical ruling in 1948, and we all know how that has turned out:
The opponents have been tossed on the scrapheaps of history as bigots and hateful people, the world didn’t stop with interracial marriages, and few if any people give it a second thought today.
So shall it be in the present SSM case in the future.
SSM’s are not a matter of conflicting Federal and State law as the marijuana issue is. There is nothing to arrest anyone for. You are comparing legal apples to oranges – two entirely open and currently unsettled debates that have noting to do with each other at any level.
Well, those are two totally seperate legal issues.
The feds bust people with pot in California regardless of California laws saying it’s legal. That’s not the same thing as marriage. The federal government can refuse to recognize the marriages that are legal in California, but that doesn’t mean all gays who get married here will be arrested. Our prisons are full enough already (which I believe was one of the many reasons for legalizing weed).
Also, I don’t believe it’s on the ballot for November yet.