This is what the fight to overturn Prop 8 is all about....

As you undoubtedly have heard, the California Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments in the Prop 8 battle on March 5. A three hour hearing has been scheduled at the Supreme Court in San Francisco.

I really hope the justices will do the right thing, and overturn this monstrosity. For me, it's a matter of allowing a simple majority to take away the fundamental rights of a minority. And that's something I do not believe the voters have the right to do.

I am so proud of Attorney General Jerry Brown, who has refused to defend Prop 8 because he believes it violates the California Constitution. He's the first AG in forty years to refuse to defend a state law. The previous time that happened was for the same reason. The AG at the time felt the law in question was unconstitutional.

We've heard all the arguments from the haters about "the will of the people." But, as I've stated in many arguments on the subject, on matters of fundamental rights, the will of the people is not supreme in this land. Don't believe me? I found this great quote from US Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, who wrote the majority opinion in West Virginia State Board of Education vs Barnette in 1943...

"The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts. One's right to life, liberty,and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly, and other fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections."

That, to me, sums up what this fight is all about. Do the people have the right to vote away the rights of a minority? The answer is a resounding "NO." A "fundamental right" is beyond the reach of voters or legislation.

The US Supreme Court ruled in Loving vs Virginia that marriage is a fundamental right. The exact quote is "Marriage is one of the "basic civil rights of man," fundamental to our very existence and survival.." The California Supreme Court ruled in May 2008 that marriage for same-sex couples is a fundamental right, and that denying it by law violated the equal protection clause of the Constitution.....the exact argument of the US Supreme Court under Loving vs Virginia.

If marriage is a fundamental right for same-sex couples, as has already been ruled by the California Supreme Court, how can they not rule against Prop 8? The California Supreme Court has thrown out initiatives that violated the Constitution in the past, despite overwhelming voter support of the same. Let's hope they have the courage to throw out Prop 8, which passed by the thinest of margins, for the same reason.