Kevin and Don Norte - Involvement in Challenges To Proposition 8

Involvement in Challenges To Proposition 8

Kevin Norte authored an opinion piece in the Metropolitan News-Enterprise of Los Angeles six days after the California Supreme Court's ruling on May 15, 2008 ruling in In re Marriage Cases (2008) 43 Cal. 4th 757. That case is precedent-setting because it found the right to Same-sex marriage in California. Norte analyzed the repercussion the case would have on Proposition 8, the ballot initiative on the November 4, 2008 ballot.

That case found several constitutional rights under the California Constitution and Kevin queried whether those constitutional rights could be simply abolished by a voter initiative or would the legislature have to place a constitutional revision on the ballot or determine whether a constitutional convention would have to be held.

Kevin Norte is the first legal analyst to publish an article in a legal newspaper of public record on the interactions between the historic Supreme Court's ruling and the California Initiative process. He explored the topic further in another expanded article in the Met-News on June 17, 2008, the first full day that gay marriage became legal in California. The legal education piece was entitled, "Election Law: How One Legally Might Remove a Ballot Initiative Prior to an Election". Norte posited that the language of the initiative was flawed and outdated. The legal analyst concluded that one could legitimately argue that the Court order the "California Secretary of State, to remove the proposed 'Limit on Marriage' Constitutional Amendment Initiative from the November, 2008 ballot." The Supreme Court rejected this argument on July 16, 2008 without comment or ruling on the merits of the "revision" argument.

On June 20, 2008, the pro-same-gender marriage parties file a Writ of Mandate in the California Supreme Court in San Francisco. The San Francisco Chronicle reporter Bob Elko reported that the coalition filed a writ to seek removal of the initiative. The grounds state in the writ petition were similar to those discussed in both the May 21, 2008 and June 17, 2008 articles authored by Norte but failed to reference the official reporter pages of the case. Kevin's second article contained the proper citations. Norte has called the denial of the stay the start of what could be the "Gay Marriage Industrial Complex" with a gay marriage on the ballot at every election for the foreseeable future similar to the parental notification for underage abortion initiative. Norte regularly contributes articles and opinion pieces on Proposition 8 to the Met-Newsthe online OpEd News and BLOGCABIN.

In January 2009, the law firm of White and Case submitted an amicus brief on behalf of Log Cabin Republicans in the Supreme Court challenge to Proposition 8 based on Norte's writings. On May 26, 2009 the California Supreme Court upheld the validity of California's Proposition 8, however Associate Justice Carlos Moreno (most recently considered for an appointment to the United States Supreme Court) basically agreed with Norte's analysis. Moreno held that Prop. 8 should have been voided as an unlawful amendment. "The majority's holding is not just a defeat for same-sex couples, but for any minority group that seeks the protection of the equal protection clause of the California Constitution", he wrote. In the meantime, the Court carved out an exception for the 18,000 couples married while it was legal in California, including the Nortes.

The former Solicitor General of the United States, Theodore Olson, filed a challenge to Proposition 8 in Federal Court based on a violation of Federal Equal Protection using the historic ROMER case as its precedent. As of 2010, Kevin authored a follow-up opinion piece to his 2008 marriage articles in which he praised California Supreme Court Associate Justice Carlos Moreno for having the courage for arguing that Norte's Revisionist Theory of Marriage is the correct analysis of the California Constitution, that issues like the constitutional right to "gay marriage" is a "legally certainty" but that it will not be "politically correct" for some time, and encouraged Judge Vaughn Walker to do the right thing and strike down California's Propposition 8 for what it is—discrimination."

After Judge Vaughn Walker handed down his decision finding California's Proposition 8 "discrimination" echoing Norte's opinion expressed in his article, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, in keeping his commitment to his friends, Log Cabin Republicans and the LGBT community in general sought to have the ruling applied immediately and commented. "The administration believes the public interest is best served by permitting the court's judgment to go into effect, thereby restoring the right of same-sex couples to marry in California", lawyers for Schwarzenegger said in the legal filing. "Doing so is consistent with California's long history of treating all people and their relationships with equal dignity and respect."