Perry

At the request of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, we agreed to decide a question of California law that is relevant to the underlying lawsuit in this matter now pending in that federal appellate court. (Perry v. Brown (9th Cir., No. 10-16696); see Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.548.) As posed by the Ninth Circuit, the question to be decided is “[w]hether under article II, section 8 of the California Constitution, or otherwise under California law, the official proponents of an initiative measure possess either a particularized interest in the initiative’s validity or the authority to assert the State’s interest in the initiative’s validity, which would enable them to defend the constitutionality of the initiative upon its adoption or appeal a judgment invalidating the initiative, when the public officials charged with that duty refuse to do so.”

In addressing this issue, we emphasize at the outset that although in this case the question posed by the Ninth Circuit happens to arise in litigation challenging the validity, under the United States Constitution, of the initiative measure (Proposition 8) that added a section to the California Constitution…

While joining fully in the court’s unanimous opinion authored by the Chief lustice, I write separately to highlight the historical and legal events that have led to today’s decision and to explain why I concur in that decision.

I

This case marks the fourth time in recent years that this court has addressed issues related to the ongoing political and legal struggle about whether same-sex marriages should be recognized as valid in California. In 2004, this court held that San Francisco public officials exceeded their authority when they issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples without a prior judicial determination of the constitutionality of a California statute restricting marriage to heterosexual couples. (Lockyer v. City and County of San Francisco (2004) 33 Cal.4th 1055 [ 17 Cal.Rptr.3d 225 , 95 P.3d 459 ] (Lockyer).) Agreeing with the majority that, within our state government, determining the constitutional validity of state statutes is a task reserved to the judicial branch, I joined in that decision, except insofar as it declared void some 4,000 same-sex marriages performed in reliance on licenses issued in *1166 San Francisco. (Id. at p. 1125 (cone. & dis. opn. of…

Filed 11/17/

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA

KRISTIN M. PERRY et al., ) Plaintiffs and Respondents, ) ) v. ) S189476 ) EDMUND G. BROWN, JR., as Governor, etc., et al., ) 9th Cir. No. 10-16696 Defendants; ) ) CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO, ) N.D. Cal. No. Intervener and Respondent; ) 3:09-cv-02292-VRW ) DENNIS HOLLINGSWORTH et al., ) Interveners and Appellants. ) ____________________________________________)

At the request of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, we agreed to decide a question of California law that is relevant to the underlying lawsuit in this matter now pending in that federal appellate court. (Perry v. Brown (9th Cir. No. 10-16696); see Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.548.) As posed by the Ninth Circuit, the question to be decided is ―[w]hether under article II, section 8 of the California Constitution, or otherwise under California law, the official proponents of an initiative measure possess either a particularized interest in the initiative‘s validity or the authority to assert the State‘s…