In a bold move, two
attorneys who argued opposing sides of the 2000
Bush v. Gore
lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court have filed a challenge to
Prop. 8 in federal court.
In a bold move that
takes a new approach to achieving marriage equality, two
attorneys who argued opposing sides of the 2000
Bush v. Gore
lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court have filed a challenge to
Proposition 8 in federal court,
The Advocate
has learned.
Theodore B. Olson, the
U.S. solicitor general from 2001 to 2004 under President George
W. Bush, and David Boies, a high-profile trial lawyer who
argued on behalf of former vice president Al Gore, filed the
suit May 22 in U.S. district court on behalf of two California
gay couples.
The attorneys argue
that relegating same-sex couples to domestic partnerships
instead of granting them full marriage rights is a violation of
the equal protection and due process clauses of the Fourteenth
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Olson said he was
contacted several months ago by representatives of an
association called the American Foundation for Equal Rights
about his willingness to represent the two couples named in the
suit.
"For a long time I've
personally felt that we are doing a grave injustice for people
throughout this country by denying equality to gay and lesbian
individuals," Olson said in an interview with
The Advocate.
"The individuals that we represent and will be representing
in this case feel they're being denied their rights. And
they're entitled to have a court vindicate those rights."
When pressed about his
service with the Bush administration, which in 2004 endorsed an
amendment to the U.S. constitution that would prohibit same-sex
marriage, Olson said he was personally against the amendment at
the time, though he made no public statements on the
matter.
As for the timing of
the suit, Olson said that recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme
Court "make it clear that individuals are entitled to be
treated equally under the Constitution. I'm reasonably
confident that this is the right time for these [injustices] to
be vindicated."
Olson, Boies, and other
attorneys working on the suit are being compensated by the
American Foundation for Equal Rights, Olson said his law firm
and others also are contributing resources pro bono. As of
press time, no website could be found for the newly formed
organization. Olson and his representatives declined to specify
who was funding the campaign.
The plaintiffs in the
suit are Kristin Perry and Sandra Stier of Berkeley, Calif.,
and Paul Katami and Jeffrey Zarrillo of Burbank, Calif. Perry
is executive director of First 5 California, a state health and
education agency.
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