Statement on Judge Walker's Decision to Overturn Proposition 8

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Date: August 4, 2010 916/313-4000
CONTACT: Carol Hogan
 

STATEMENT ON JUDGE WALKER’S DECISION TO OVERTURN PROPOSITION 8
The following statement was released by Edward E. (Ned) Dolejsi, Executive Director of the California Catholic Conference.

“We are disappointed in Judge Walker’s decision to find Proposition 8, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman, a violation of the U.S. constitution.

“As Charles Cooper, the attorney for ProtectMarriage.com, the proponents ofProposition 8 who defended the law, said in his closing arguments:

The historical record leaves no doubt...that the central purpose of marriage in virtually all societies and at all times has been to channel potentially procreative sexual relationships into enduring stable unions to increase the likelihood that any offspring will be raised by the man and woman who brought them into the world.

“That the judge should find the marriage—civilizations’ longstanding public policy— irrational and discriminatory does a great injustice to the institution itself and ultimately will further encourage the disintegration of mother-father families. Homosexuals certainly have every right to the love, companionship and support of another person—but the Courts do not have a right to distort the meaning of marriage.
 

“The proponents of Proposition 8 plan to appeal this short-sighted decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals where the record created in the trial phase will clearly demonstrate that the law, the well-being of society, and the public are on the side of traditional marriage.”