'Activist Courts,' Misleading Wedge Politics and the Tragedy of Proposition 8

Abstract:     
This paper explains that Proposition 8 was uniquely devastating in that it stripped vested marriage rights away from a protected minoirty group. Previously, where voters sought to define marriage narrowly to exlude gay and lesbian couples, voters did so in advance of gay and lesbian couples having such rights. The paper defends the California Supreme Court's decision in the May 15, 2008 "Marriage Cases," criticizes misleading advertising ploys of the Proposition 8 campaign and broadly defends the role of the courts in ensuring equal protection, drawing parallels between the current fight for marriage equality and earlier fights for the rights of interracial couples.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 14

Keywords: Proposition 8, marriage equality, GLBT rights, LGBT rights, equal protection, interracial marriage

JEL Classification: K19, K30

working papers series