COVERITLIVE.COM

10:01

SignOnLiveChatModerator - Welcome to today's chat. John Marelius will be with us shortly.

10:08

John Marelius - The California Supreme Court just announced it is upholding Proposition 8 and allowing same-sex marriages that were performed last year to stand. More details as they become available. President Obama names Sonia Sotomayor, an appellate court judge from New York, to the U.S. Supreme Court. And we can still pick over the ashes of last week's special election. So lots to chat about today. Let's get started.

10:09

SignOnLiveChatModerator -

John, was the Supreme Court's decision a surprise, or was this expected?

10:10

John Marelius - This is pretty much what was expected. From the questioning during the oral arguments in March, most people who were in court came away with thte feeling that four justices were highly skeptical about the arguments for overturning Proposition 8.

10:11

[Comment From wizpop14]
so can I marry again ??

10:11

John Marelius - If you marry somebody of the other sex.

10:11

[Comment From wizpop14]
darn I have a partner that I want to marry

10:12

John Marelius - You can always go to Massachusetts, Iowa, Connecticut or Vermont.

10:12

SignOnLiveChatModerator -

John, this won't end the debate over same-sex marriage in California. Where does the issue move from here?

10:14

John Marelius - I don't know if there is going to be an appeal of this ruling or if there are even grounds to get it into federal court. One thing that is almost certain is that there will be a ballot initiative to reinstate same-sex marriages. The only question is when. Some advocates want to press ahead with an initiative for the 2010 ballot. Others want to wait until the 2012 presidential election when they would likely get a larger and more favorable voter turnout.

Page 1 Next >