Closing argument in gay marriage trial

[Rick336]

From Yahoo News - Wednesday June 16, 2010

Lawyer: Gays denied right by Calif marriage ban


SAN FRANCISCO – The landmark federal trial over the constitutionality of California's gay marriage ban resumed Wednesday, with a lawyer arguing that supporters of the ban were trying to deprive same-sex couples of a relationship the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized as a fundamental right.

Former U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson delivered the closing argument for the two same-sex couples who sued to overturn voter-approved Proposition 8, claiming it was a violation of their civil rights.

Olson told Chief U.S. Judge Vaughn Walker the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized marriage as a fundamental right — one afforded to prisoners serving life sentences and child support scofflaws — while refusing to make procreation a precondition of marriage, as evidenced by laws allowing divorces and contraception.

"It is the right of individuals, not an indulgence to be dispensed by the state," Olson said. "The right to marry, to choose to marry, has never been tied to procreation."




Read rest of article here ---->http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100616/...marriage_trial


Rick