1,
2, 3, Not It! : How The Separation
Of Powers Is Helping California
Avoid Gay Marriage
By Andrea K Rufo
17 September, 2005
Countercurrents.org
Sometimes
the separation of powers can be harsh. Take gay rights efforts in California
a state with takes pride in just how close it's willing to treat
gay unions like marriages but refuses to take that final step to make
them legal. Though it is not scheduled to appear on his desk immediately,
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has already stated clearly that he will
veto Bill AB 849, the recently passed legislation that makes the law
defining marriage gender neutral, thus allowing same sex marriage. The
bill passed the state congress on September 6th by a slim but successful
margin (41-35), making California the first state to legalize same sex
marriages by legislature. The bill also comes in the aftermath of a
series of court battles reacting to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's
decision last year to issue same sex marriage licenses an act
the California courts ultimately determined was an overstep of his authority
as mayor.
In his announcement
of his decision to veto, Gov. Schwarzenegger argued that the bill was
unconstitutional because in 2000 the California voters approved a DOMA-like
ballot measure defining marriage as between a man and a woman, although,
the legitimacy of that ballot measure is still being challenged in the
courts. In a released statement, the Governor's office stated: "The
people voted, and the issue is now before the courts. The governor believes
the matter should be determined not by legislative action - which would
be unconstitutional - but by court decision or another vote of the people
of our state. We cannot have a system where the people vote and the
Legislature derails that vote."
As gay rights advocates
and the affirmative voting members of the California legislature wait
for the official veto to derail AB 849, they find themselves stuck between
a rock, a hard place, and, um, another hard place. The California courts,
in reaction to the marriage licenses handed out in San Francisco show
an unwillingness to uphold gay marriages, specifically those sanctions
by members of the Executive branch. Reciprocally, Governor Schwarzenegger,
as head of the Executive Branch in California shows an unwillingness
to uphold gay marriages when such efforts to secure them are done through
the legislature. It appears then that in California you can't turn to
your mayor or Governor to secure gay marriage. You can't turn to the
Courts. And, after October 9th (the deadline for the Governor to veto
AB 849) you can't turn to the legislature either. What's a gay rights
activist to do?
The real problem
in California is not so much that the branches of government have conspired
against gay citizens to preclude them from every receiving equal rights
such as marriage, but rather that the excuse Gov. Schwarzenegger has
proffered for his impending veto is flimsy if not fallacious. Granted
he's under no obligation to give a compelling reason at all, and even
if he were they are several he could come up with, including that not
a single member of his party voted for the bill. But to place the blame
outside of himself or his party and on to the presumed will of the people
is to misunderstand and abuse democratic theory in an effort to save
face and convert a failing term into a re-election bid. (According to
RollCall, Schwarzenegger will announce his candidacy for re-election
in the upcoming weeks.)
Gov. Schwarzenegger
rests his veto on the presumed will of the people, but, given the means
by which he secured his current job, he should be acutely aware that
the will of people change. The ballot measure he speaks of is four years
old, passed in 2000 while Governor Davis was still in office and supported,
and was passed prior to the Lawrence v. Texas decision granting rights
of privacy to homosexual couples. Even ignoring the potential changes
four years can bring (from demographic to ideological shifts in the
populace) the Governor is also glossing over the history of the ballot
measure he's referring to.
The measure, better
known as Proposition 22 states that "Only marriage between a man
and a woman is valid or recognized in California." The Proposition
was designed as a reaction to gay marriages in other states, although
the federal Defense of Marriage Act had already removed the full faith
and credit requirements that force one state to recognize the legal
unions of another state. Not only did DOMA eliminate the potency of
Proposition 22, but California Family Code Section 300 already defined
marriage as between a man and a woman (it was Section 300 et seq which
the California Supreme Court cited in ordering San Francisco Mayor Newsom
to cease issuing marriage licenses to gay couples). To a large extent
then, Schwarzenegger is really basing his veto on the will of the California
representatives to Congress circa 1996 and the will of the legislation
even earlier than that. Not to mention that in the debate surrounding
it, Proposition 22 was incredibly controversial and passed by a slight
majority of the vote with 61.4% support. And, as previously mentioned,
the constitutionality of Proposition 22 has yet to be conclusively determined
by the courts.
Certainly we can't
entirely base future legislation on the presumption that the voters
can't make up their minds, or that they are subject to change. And in
fact, there would be less reason to doubt Gov. Schwarzenegger's assertion
of Proposition 22 as the definitive evidence of the will of the people,
had the people not also voted for the legislature which has passed AB
849.
A proposition is
a ballot measure proposed to the citizens for their approval. It's a
form of direct democracy in a system which is otherwise representative.
So which is more important? Which vote trumps the other: the vote for
your representative who is then instilled with the power to pass legislation
on behalf of their constituents or your vote on a ballot initiative
pre-written and handed down to you by either the same legislature or
a minimum number of citizen signatures? And where in that debate does
the Governor get the power to definitively answer that question for
you? And one must wonder, if Gov. Schwarzenegger derives the power to
make such a decision from his position of elected official then isn't
his ability to decide proof that the vote for elected officials outweighs
the individual vote on a ballot measure?
As direct and representative
democracy principles find themselves clashing over the constitutionality
of AB 849, citizens of California find themselves in a complicated position.
Gov. Schwarzenegger claims the vote on the ballot initiative preempts
the voting of the legislature, but the legislature is imbued with the
power to pass or deny legislation based on the will of their constituents.
Thus, for some citizens, their voting power is rendered either meaningless
or moot. They are likely to have voted for a representative who voted
for a measure their Governor will veto on account of a vote they may
have cast four years earlier on a ballot initiative. And had they not
been one of the privileged few to have voted on or for that initiative,
their vote for Congressional representative has, at least on the issue
of gay marriage, been permanently preempted.
This would be the
opportune time to turn to the judicial branch for guidance, but the
California courts are equally indecisive on how to treat gay partnerships.
As mentioned earlier, California really is one of the top states in
the union for extending marriage-like privileges to gay couples. The
most recent such endeavor came in the California Supreme Court's decision
a few weeks ago to grant full parenthood rights to former same sex couples,
even where there was no legal adoption. While the decision (which came
down in response to three different cases) was more a nod to the new
role of technology over biology in reproduction, its effect is to extend
full benefits to a homosexual parent that would not have otherwise been
afforded unless the couple had been legally married (rights like survivorship
and benefits). The decision follows much of the reasoning that lead
to the passage of California's Domestic Partnership Law, which requires
state contracts to offer benefits for employees' same sex partners.
And the decision raises that troubling question the Court has yet to
answer: if same sex couples are afforded almost all the same privileges
as heterosexual couples, why continue to deny them legal marriages?
Indeed the Court
has chosen to remain unclear on that question. In response to the activities
in San Francisco, the California Supreme Court ordered an end to permitting
same sex marriage licenses. In an August 2004 decision the court found
that the Mayor had overstepped his legal authority and then voided the
marriage licenses issued during the time. But they did not make a decision
on whether or not the California constitution allowed same sex marriages
as a civil right. But it's a decision made in March of this year which
befuddles the issue and Gov. Schwarzenegger's veto the most. In March,
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer struck down Proposition
22, finding that it is a "basic human right to marry a person of
one's choice." Citing the laws and rulings which have extended
privileges to same sex couples, Judge Kramer argued that "California's
enactment of rights for same-sex couples belies any argument that the
State would have a legitimate interest in denying marriage," concluding
that "there is no rational state interest in denying them the rites
of marriage as well." He also concluded that Proposition 22 was
wrong, irrational and outdated. The decision is now on appeal, so Judge
Kramer's decision has of yet no actual effect. But sadly, the California
Supreme Court announced last week that it would not immediately decide
the issue. Thus turning to the Courts to determine the possibility of
gay marriage promises to be a long and confusing process.
But then again,
turning to the legislature would remain ineffective in the wake of the
Governor's veto. By virtue of the Governor's reasoning, and the slow
procedural hesitancy of the courts, California citizens advocating for
gay marriage find themselves being tossed around from one branch of
government to another like a hot potato no one wants to end up holding.
Though designed to prevent any one person or branch from gaining too
much power, in California, the separation of powers has made it possible
for no one branch to make a decision at all. Their deflection of responsibility
onto each other has instead left the issue of gay marriage in limbo
and the California people without power to affect it.