A coalition of LGBT rights groups and law firms filed suit in the California Supreme Court on June 20, seeking to have a proposed initiative to ban marriage for same-sex couples excluded from the general election ballot this November. Bennett v. Bowen is the name of the case, with California Secretary of State Debra Bowen sued in her official capacity, and the individuals whose names appear as proponents on the initiative named as real parties in interest.
Pre-election litigation against ballot measures is by no means unprecedented, although courts generally prefer to avoid deciding controversial questions unless they have to do so, and if the initiative is not approved by the voters, the court would never have to rule on its validity. But in their memorandum of law supporting the motion to stay voting on this measure, the petitioners have made strong arguments along two lines.
Rest of his analysis is here:
MassMarrier has more, too.
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