Offer 8

Referendum map

Proposition 8 ( Proposition 8 ) is the name of the California State Constitutional Amendment, which was adopted at a referendum on November 4, 2008 . This amendment was valid in California and defined marriage as a “union between a man and a woman” and excluded same-sex marriage .

For the adoption of the amendment, 52.5% of those eligible to vote voted against - 47.5%.

Following the referendum, Section 1 of Section 7.5 of the California Constitution was amended to:

"Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.
(Only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid and recognized in California). ”

In 2009, the California Supreme Court approved the results of the referendum ^[1] . Amendment 8 was contested by supporters of same-sex marriage. In 2010, the US Federal Court ruled that the Amendment 8 is illegal. Supporters of the same-sex marriage ban protested the decision, but the Court of Appeal found Amendment 8 to be unconstitutional. After that, the advocates of the Amendment appealed to the Supreme Court ^[2] .

On June 26, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the appeal of the Amendment 8 advocates, arguing that they lacked legal standing to challenge the decision of the Court of Appeal in the High Court. “We have never before confirmed that there are private reasons to defend the constitutionality of state law when state authorities chose not to,” said Chief Justice John Roberts. “We refuse to do this also in this case.” In the absence of sufficient grounds for appeal, the court does not have the power to examine the merits of the case. Thus, the decision of the Court of Appeal on the unconstitutionality of Amendment 8 was upheld ^{[3] [4] [5] [6]} .

In this matter, Judge John Roberts was supported by three liberal judges Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan and conservative judge Antonin Scalia ^{[3] [5]} . Judge Anthony Kennedy, who wrote the decision on the unconstitutionality of the Law on the Protection of Marriage , expressed the special opinion that the court may consider the issue of same-sex marriage too. He was joined by conservative judge Samuel Alito and Cleirence Thomas, along with liberal judge Sonia Sotomayor, who were a minority. They stated that the legislative initiative of the trial is unsuitable if state authorities may simply refuse to provide legal sanction for the decision that people voted for ^[4] .

While supporters of same-sex marriages welcomed the Supreme Court's decision as their victory, opponents of same-sex marriages were satisfied that the Supreme Court left the issue of determining marriage to each state to decide on its own, rather than approving the constitutionality of same-sex marriage ^[7] . So, the president of the Family Research Council, Tony Perkens, said: “Although we are disappointed with the court’s decision to repeal the federal Law on the Protection of Marriage , the court today did not impose a redefinition of the nature of the marriage that they sought, indiscriminately throughout the country” ^[3] .