CITY ATTORNEY DENNIS HERRERA
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: MATT DORSEY
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 5, 2008
PHONE: (415) 554-4662
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Herrera Joined by Los Angeles, Santa Clara
Counterparts in Suing to Invalidate Prop 8
Leader of S.F.’s original constitutional challenge says amendment
‘if allowed to stand…devastates the principle of equal protection’
SAN FRANCISCO (Nov. 5, 2008)—City Attorney Dennis Herrera today joined Los Angeles City
Attorney Rocky Delgadillo and Santa Clara County Counsel Anne C. Ravel in filing a petition for a writ
of mandate with the California Supreme Court to invalidate Proposition 8, an initiative constitutional
amendment that intends to strip gay and lesbian citizens of their fundamental right to marry in California.
The ##-page suit filed with the high court in San Francisco this afternoon argues that the California
Constitution’s equal protection provisions do not allow a bare majority of voters to use the amendment
process to divest politically disfavored groups of constitutional rights. Such a sweeping redefinition of
equal protection would require a constitutional revision rather than a mere amendment, the petition
argues. Article XVIII of the California Constitution provides that a constitutional revision may only be
accomplished by a constitutional convention and popular ratification, or by legislative submission to the
electorate.
Today’s civil action by city and county governments follows a similar action filed earlier in the day by the
National Center for Lesbian Rights on behalf of same-sex couples. Herrera pledged to lead an aggressive
effort to enlist additional support in the civil litigation from other California cities and counties.
“The issue before the court today is of far greater consequence than marriage equality alone,” Herrera
said. “Equal protection of the laws is not merely the cornerstone of the California Constitution, it is what
separates constitutional democracy from mob rule tyranny. If allowed