Makes argument for marriage as a “fundamental right”

by Brian Leubitz

Attorney General Kamala Harris (disclosure: I worked on her 2010 campaign) has always been a stalwart defender of marriage equality, and has appeared in many forums on the issue. Her appearance on CNN’s morning show with Candy Crowley was much the same. You can view that segment to the right.

The Prop 8 case can go a number of ways. The Court can strike down Prop 8 for California alone, along the same lines as the 9th Circuit. They could strike down bans on same-sex marriage more generally. Or they could reject the case on “standing” grounds, which would mean that the Prop 8 proponents did not have the right to appeal the decision. That would mean that Judge Walker’s decision at the district court level would stand. What that would mean for same-sex marriage bans more generally would be up for interpretation.

And of course, the Court could simply decide that marriage equality is not a matter of equal protection. But, as our Attorney General argued so forcefully here, the Court has called marriage a fundamental right nearly 20 times in its history. And to uphold Prop 8 would mean that Equal Protection simply does not apply to one class of citizens.

Now, there is much more to the case than that. I’d recommend the Equality on Trial team, as they’ve already got some good stuff online, and will be following the case from DC all this week as we get the oral argument.

Over the flip, you’ll find the other CNN segment with AG Harris, where they discussed gun control and immigration.