Demagogue

San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer ruled earlier today that California's ban on granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples is unconstitutional. Excerpts from the court's decision:

"... it appears that no rational purpose exists for limiting marriage in this State to opposite-sex partners.

"... The state's protracted denial of equal protection cannot be justified simply because such constitutional violation has become traditional ... Advocates of the [interracial marriage] ban advocated that because historically and culturally, blacks had not been permitted to marry whites, the statute was justified. This argument was rejected ...

"... Even under the rational basis standard, a statute lacking a reasonable connection to a legitimate state interest cannot acquire such a connection simply by surviving unchallenged over time.

"... the creation of a super-structure of marriage-like benefits for same-sex couples is no remedy."