President Obama's Birthday Present: A Prop 8 Decision

by Michael Jones · 2010-08-03 20:29:00 UTC
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Wednesday is going to be a very big day. The President turns 49 years old, but while he's cutting into a slice of cake with Sasha, Malia and Michelle, all eyes will be on the other side of the country, California to be exact, where Judge Vaughn Walker is going to release his much anticipated ruling on the federal marriage equality case, Perry v. Schwarzenegger.

The historic case, argued by former Bush v. Gore attorneys Ted Olson and David Boies, seeks to challenge the constitutionality of California's ban on same-sex marriage, otherwise known as Proposition 8. The ruling is slated to hit sometime between 1:00pm-3:00pm PST, and will be followed by "Day of Decision" rallies around the country, from Boston to New York to Denver to San Diego and more. Here's hoping they are victory rallies, celebrating a ruling from Judge Walker that declares Proposition 8 unconstitutional.

Earlier this week, ironically, David Boies wrote a piece for the San Francisco Chronicle where he spelled out exactly why both he and Ted Olson wanted to bring this case forward. It's not about ego or politics. Rather, it's about doing what's right, and advancing our entire country in the direction of equality.

"During my lifetime, our country has made great progress in eliminating discrimination. Although there is much more to be done before we have fully eliminated racial, religious, gender and ethnic discrimination and have begun to fulfill the promise of equality upon which our nation was founded, only one group of our citizens -- gays and lesbians -- is still subject to official, state-sponsored, state-enforced discrimination," Boies wrote.

Boies argues that the U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed time and time again that the freedom to marry is protected by the Constitution. Whether it's Loving v. Virginia or Lawrence v. Texas, both Boies and Olson feel that they have enough Supreme Court precedent to make the case that laws openly discriminating against gays and lesbians are a violation of constitutional protections such as liberty, due process and the right of association.

We'll find out tomorrow if Judge Walker agrees with him.

Already, Proposition 8's backers have filed papers in the event that they lose, setting up the appeal process. They're appeal would boot the case up to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, and from there it could end up before the U.S. Supreme Court, perhaps sometime in 2011 or 2012.

Which means that tomorrow is going to be a historic day, setting in motion what could become the biggest Supreme Court decision for civil rights that our country has seen in six decades.

Photo credit: dan taylor

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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