To the editor: It is incorrect to say that the U.S. Supreme Court “finally struck down Proposition 8 in 2013” (“Kamala Harris was at the forefront of the battle over same-sex marriage,” Sept. 15)
On May 27, 2009, the plaintiffs filed suit in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco challenging Proposition 8 on federal constitutional grounds. On August 4, 2010, the district court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, finding that “Proposition 8 unconstitutionally impedes the exercise of the fundamental right to marry and creates an irrational classification based on sexual orientation.”
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's decision. On June 26, 2013, the United States Supreme Court held that the parties who brought the appeal lacked standing. The United States Supreme Court therefore ordered the Ninth Circuit's opinion vacated. The district court's decision remains the final decision. On June 28, 2013, same-sex marriages became legal again in California.
This is why Proposition 3 is on the November 5 California ballot. Proposition 8 is still part of the state Constitution; Proposition 3 would eliminate it and enshrine marriage equality in the California Constitution.
Thomas DeBoe, Los Angeles
The writer is a lawyer.
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To the editor: Your article on Vice President Kamala Harris and same-sex marriage omitted the fact that Californians voted no twice: first in 2000 with Proposition 22, then in 2008 with Proposition 8.
As California attorney general, he refused to defend Proposition 8 in the U.S. Supreme Court, refusing to uphold the will of the voters. Think about that now as he runs for the highest office in the land.
Bob Launius, Oxnard
