To the editor: It’s wrong to say that the U.S. Supreme Court “eventually overturned Proposition 8 in 2013.” (“Kamala Harris was at the forefront of the battle for same-sex marriage,” Sept. 15)
On May 27, 2009, plaintiffs filed an action in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco to challenge Proposition 8 on federal constitutional grounds. On Aug. 4, 2010, the district court ruled for the plaintiffs, concluding that “Proposition 8 both unconstitutionally burdens the exercise of the fundamental right to marry and creates an irrational classification on the basis of sexual orientation.”
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court decision. On June 26, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the parties pursuing the appeal did not have standing. Therefore, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the 9th Circuit opinion vacated. The district court decision remains the final holding. On June 28, 2013, same-sex marriages became legal again in California.
This is the reason Proposition 3 is on the Nov. 5 California ballot. Proposition 8 is still part of the state Constitution; Proposition 3 would remove it and enshrine marriage equality in the California Constitution.
Thomas DeBoe, Los Angeles
The writer is an attorney.
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To the editor: Your article on Vice President Kamala Harris and same-sex marriage left out the fact that Californians voted no twice — first in 2000 with Proposition 22, then in 2008 with Proposition 8.
As California attorney general, she declined to argue for Proposition 8 at the U.S. Supreme Court, refusing to defend the will of the voters. Think about that as she runs for the highest office in the land.
Bob Launius, Oxnard
