Ponderings on a Faith Journey: A Legal Analysis of the Recent Prop 8 Decision

Bob Cornwall, a consistently thoughtful, progressive voice, has a guest post from an attorney in his congregation regarding the recent Prop 8 ruling, now being considered by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.  I highly recommend that you read it, especially if you’re so caught up in the religious/moral aspects of same sex marriage that you haven’t really considered the legal aspects.  Here’s a taste:

In its Equal Protection analysis, the court determined that Proposition 8 was discriminatory based on gender and sexual orientation. Based on its factual findings, the court ruled that the state had no lawful basis to enforce such discrimination. The court ruled that the state had no compelling interest, and in fact no rational basis, for allowing opposite sex couples to marry the person of their choice, while denying members of same-sex couples that same right. The court also ruled that the California provision for parallel (echos of “separate but equal” institution of “domestic partnerships” was not an adequate legal substitute for the right to marry because “marriages” and “domestic partnerships” carried very different social and economic consequences.

via Ponderings on a Faith Journey: A Legal Analysis of Prop 8 Decision (John McCauslin, Guest Post).