Senate censures gay-marriage ban

By Patrick McGreevy

March 3, 2009 12 AM PT

Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Just days before the matter is to be taken up by California’s Supreme Court, the state Senate approved a resolution Monday calling Proposition 8, the ban on same-sex marriage, an improper revision of the Constitution because it was not approved by the Legislature.

Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) said the initiative is a fundamental revision to the document, not an amendment, and therefore requires deliberation by the Legislature and a two-thirds vote of both houses to put it on the ballot.

“Do we have a constitutional democracy in California, or do we have mob rule?” Leno asked his colleagues before the 18-14 vote approved the resolution.

The state Supreme Court is scheduled to take up a legal challenge to the ballot measure Thursday.

Republican senators said the resolution was an inappropriate attempt by the Legislature to influence the courts.

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Patrick McGreevy

Patrick McGreevy covered the California Legislature out of the Sacramento bureau until 2021. He joined the Los Angeles Times in 1998 and worked in the City Hall and San Fernando Valley bureaus, writing about subjects including Valley secession, LAPD reform and city government during the administrations of Mayors Richard Riordan, James Hahn and Antonio Villaraigosa. He is a native of San Diego and a graduate of San Jose State University.