Calif. ruling akin to 'legal tsunami'

Christian attorney Steve Crampton says the California Supreme Court abandoned the rule of law and common sense with its decision today that re-defined marriage.

By a 4-3 decision, California's high court overturned a ban on same-sex "marriage." The majority decision, written by Chief Justice Ron George, said that domestic partnerships -- which are legal in the Golden State -- are not a good enough substitute for marriage. (see a OneNewsNow special on this decision)
 
The case began in February 2004 when Gavin Newsome, then mayor of San Francisco, began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The state Supreme Court halted the weddings a month later, and in 2006 a state appeals court upheld the law defining marriage as only between a man and a woman.
 
Steve Crampton is an attorney with Liberty Counsel, which has been involved in the case from day one. He says the decision has the potential to impact the entire nation.
 
"This opinion, in many respects, is like a legal tsunami -- and it's not going to stop at the borders of the state of California," warns Crampton. "It's going to affect the rest of us whether we want it to or not ... and we better be ready and we better be ready for a fight."
 

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Pro-family forces in the state have been preparing for the decision.  More than one million signatures have been collected for a ballot initiative that would place a state constitutional marriage amendment on the November ballot. Crampton says Liberty Counsel will file a motion in the next few days in an effort to have today's ruling put on hold until after November.

 
"In other words, [we're going to ask the court not to] put it into effect until we see whether the people can, in fact, vote and overturn the whole thing," he says, "because otherwise you've got this ... five- or six-month period of time when they're issuing licenses, after which they again become illegal. And you can't un-ring the bell once you go to issuing the licenses."
 
In addition, Crampton points out that the Supreme Court's ruling does not take effect for another 30 days.