Ruling rests on ballot box
By Allison Fung
May 19, 2008 10:27 p.m.
Following the California Supreme Court’s ruling to allow same-sex marriage last week, opponents have already taken measures in hopes of overturning the decision, but not all conservative students at UCLA support their efforts.
Daniel Mitchell, professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management and the School of Public Affairs, said a petition to create a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage has already obtained enough signatures, the first step in the process of overriding the court’s decision.
Next, the petition will be sent to the secretary of California so that the validity of the signatures can be verified, Mitchell said.
Mitchell said if the petition is approved, the initiative will be certified and placed on the November ballot.
He said that the Supreme Court’s decision invalidated Proposition 22, passed in 2000, which defined marriage as a personal relationship between a man and a woman.
However, Proposition 22 was not a constitutional amendment, only a law.
“The state Supreme Court dealt with it in the context of the California Constitution,” Mitchell said.
“If you change the constitution, it overrides the Supreme Court.”
Mitchell added that it was “fairly easy” to pass amendments in California.
A simple majority is needed to pass the ban on same-sex marriage in November.
If passed, the only recourse would be to pass a constitutional amendment allowing same-sex marriage once again, Mitchell said.
He said he does not expect the federal Supreme Court or Congress to intervene in the dispute and set a national precedent for states to follow, but he did not rule out the possibility.
“It’s conceivable that at some point there will be federal action taken,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell cited the 18th Amendment of the Constitution, when the creation, distribution and sale of liquor was banned nationwide. Prior to the amendment, some states had already ratified Prohibition in their individual constitutions. Currently, if enough states follow California and Massachusetts, Congress may pass legislation, analogous to the 18th Amendment, to allow same-sex marriage.
In the meantime, there are supporters of same-sex marriage from liberals and, surprisingly, conservatives at UCLA.
Bruin Republicans, normally recognized as a group for socially conservative students, has members who agree with the court’s decision.
“We don’t really have a consensus in our club,” David Lazar, chairman of Bruin Republicans, said. “We have members who are sympathetic to both sides of the issue.”
Lazar said that he did not have a strong stance on whether he disagreed with the court’s decision.
Other conservative students said they would not support the ongoing initiative to ban same-sex marriage.
Alex Kim, a fourth-year political science student, said he agrees with the decision.
Kim is a Catholic and considers himself a Republican.
“I believe in individual decisions. … I feel like individuals have the right to do what makes them happy. To some extent, I do support same-sex marriage,” Kim said.
