It's a little deeper than that, Ryan.
The Supreme Court refused to hear the Prop 8 appeal from California. The Appellate court had upheld the ruling of the trial judge who held that fundamental rights cannot be voted out in a referendum and cited West Virginia State Board of Education v Barnette as precedent, among others.
So, for example, Alabama is one of the benighted 36. Their constitutional ban would not pass muster any more than a constitutional ban on blacks voting would...and I'm sure the redneck assholes would have tried that if they thought they could get away with it.
What happened in the Supreme Court case is that by refusing to hear it and simply declaring that the appellants lacked "standing" to bring the case forward the Justices left the ruling intact for California but did not have to address those other 36.
The legal principle that the majority does not get to "vote" away the rights of a minority is still out there. It is only a matter of time.
The Supreme Court refused to hear the Prop 8 appeal from California. The Appellate court had upheld the ruling of the trial judge who held that fundamental rights cannot be voted out in a referendum and cited West Virginia State Board of Education v Barnette as precedent, among others.
So, for example, Alabama is one of the benighted 36. Their constitutional ban would not pass muster any more than a constitutional ban on blacks voting would...and I'm sure the redneck assholes would have tried that if they thought they could get away with it.
What happened in the Supreme Court case is that by refusing to hear it and simply declaring that the appellants lacked "standing" to bring the case forward the Justices left the ruling intact for California but did not have to address those other 36.
The legal principle that the majority does not get to "vote" away the rights of a minority is still out there. It is only a matter of time.
