SACRAMENTO (September 8, 2004)—In a ruling that powerfully affirms the authority of the California Legislature to provide legal protections to same-sex couples and their families, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Loren E. McMaster today upheld the validity of California's dramatically expanded domestic partnership law—AB 205.
Judge McMaster's ruling arose in the context of two consolidated lawsuits filed by two Sacramento-based organizations dedicated to opposing legal protections for same-sex couples and their families. Both lawsuits charged that AB 205 violates Proposition 22, the ballot initiative approved by the voters in 2000 to bar California from recognizing out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples. Another Sacramento Superior Court Judge, the Honorable Thomas M. Cecil, had earlier ruled, in December 2003, that neither lawsuit appeared likely to succeed. Consistent with Judge Cecil's ruling, Judge McMaster today dismissed both lawsuits.
In the litigation, David Codell serves as lead counsel for Equality California—the state's largest gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organization—and for a group of California domestic partners that intervened in the lawsuits in order to join with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to defend the validity of AB 205. The couples participating in the lawsuit include a member of the state legislature, state court judges, a filmmaker, a schoolteacher, retirees and a clergy member.
David Codell's co-counsel include lawyers from the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund.
"The ruling today is a victory for the tens of thousands of California families headed by lesbian or gay couples in committed relationships who will finally have access to most, but not all, of the rights and protections available to married couples under state law," stated Geoffrey Kors, Executive Director of Equality California. "Hopefully, the California Legislature will pass the Marriage License Non-Discrimination Act next year which will end the remaining discrimination these families still face."
"We are very pleased that the Court upheld the Legislature's constitutional power to protect all of California's families. The Court correctly ruled that granting legal protections to gay and lesbian couples doesn't make them married," said David Codell, lead attorney for the intervenors. "The Court recognized that it would be unconstitutional to interpret Proposition 22 as banning the Legislature from granting legal protections to families headed by same-sex couples."
Indeed, in the strongest statement ever made by a California court on the subject, Judge McMaster observed that "it is questionable in light of recent statutes and court decisions whether the State may articulate a rational basis to deny rights to same-sex couples that are granted to persons who are married."
"We are extremely relieved by the Court's decision today," said Johnny Symons and William Rogers, one of the 12 couples who intervened in the lawsuit to defend the new domestic partnership law. "As parents, we are doing everything in our power to protect our two young children. But without the protections in AB 205, our family will not have the same security as other families."
The opponents of AB 205 have vowed to appeal Judge McMaster's ruling.
When AB 205 becomes fully operative on January 1, 2005, the law will provide registered domestic partners in California with many additional basic protections and responsibilities including: community property, mutual responsibility for debt, parenting rights and obligations such as custody and support, and the ability to claim a partner's body after death. The law does not allow for joint tax filing and certain other protections under state law, and does not provide access to over 1,000 federal protections that married couples enjoy. Equality California sponsored the bill in the California Legislature in 2003.
David Codell formerly served as Vice President of Equality California. Founded in 1998, Equality California is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots-based, statewide advocacy organization whose mission is to ensure the dignity, safety, equality and civil rights of all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Californians. Equality California is one of the largest and fastest growing statewide LGBT organizations in the country. For more information, please visit Equality California's website: www.eqca.org.
