Republicans in the state Assembly have penned a letter urging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to appeal the recent ruling overturning California's ban on gay marriage.
Proponents of Proposition 8 have appealed U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker's decision deeming the 2008 voter-approved initiative unconstitutional, but Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown, who declined to defend the law, have not entered the case.
Pressure from conservative circles for Schwarzenegger to enter the case is mounting in light of questions as to whether Proposition 8 proponents have legal standing to appeal the decision. The Pacific Justice Institute, a conservative legal group, has asked the Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento to force Schwarzenegger to appeal the ruling, arguing that the two must defend state laws.
The 27 Republican legislators signing the letter argued that by staying out of the case, Schwarzenegger and Brown will set a precedent that officials "may pick and choose the laws which they will and will not enforce and defend."
"(Failing to file an appeal) will have a devastating effect upon public confidence in our institutions of representative government," the letter states. "Politics and personal belief will have been substituted for the sworn duty of our state's highest ranking elected officials."
Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said the governor "has been and will remain neutral in this case."
"The court will determine whether or not the interveners can appeal," he wrote in an e-mail.
The Courage Campaign, which supports same-sex marriage, dismissed the calls a "frivolous action" and said those pushing for Schwarzenegger to join the case are "out of touch and desperate."
"With California laying off teachers, police and firefighters amidst an unprecedented budget crisis, it is the height of hypocrisy for so called 'conservatives' to demand that California taxpayers foot the bill to defend a discriminatory law that has already been declared unconstitutional in federal court," Courage Campaign Founder and Chairman Rick Jacobs said in a statement.
Click here to read the letter.
Post updated with quotes from the Aaron McLear and The Courage Campaign.
PHOTO CREDIT: Protesters from both sides watch the proceedings on a jumbo television outside the California Supreme Court in San Francisco where the justices heard arguments to overturn Proposition 8. Photo taken Thursday, March 5, 2009. Sacramento Bee file photo/ Brian Baer
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