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* Judge tosses some Prop. 9 restrictions on California parolee rights

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"In the spirit of how we treat the least among us, please consider... Compare and contrast; one of my high school english teachers drilled that one. Compare and contrast: Slave rights and gay rights; the contrasts are easy, the comparisons are profound. Slave marriages were not legally honored either. They could not create and sign contracts and what is marriage mostly (legally speaking) but a huge contract with thousands of rights and responsibilities."

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Capitol and California
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Propositions vs. courts
Published: Friday, Mar. 27, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 4A
Last Modified: Friday, Mar. 27, 2009 - 1:24 am

These statewide propositions approved by California voters were overturned -- in whole or in major part -- by courts.

Proposition 14: In 1966 the state Supreme Court invalidated Proposition 14, a measure approved by 65 percent of the voters in 1964 that had allowed housing discrimination based on race. Ronald Reagan had been the spokesman for proponents. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the decision.

Proposition 187: In 1994, voters gave a substantial victory to Proposition 187, which denied public services to undocumented immigrants. Almost immediately, the measure was blocked by a federal judge who said it wasn't constitutional. Ultimately, in 1999, then-Gov. Gray Davis mediated a settlement ending a battle over the proposition.

Proposition 198: Proposition 198, which was approved by a 62 percent of voters in 1996, established a blanket primary in the state. In 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Proposition 208: In 1996, 61 percent of the voters approved the political finance reform. U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton halted its enforcement in January 1998. Then in 2000, voters approved Proposition 34, which invalidated much of Proposition 208. Subsequent rulings in 2001 and 2004 wiped out what few provisions were left of Proposition 208.

Proposition 215: The U.S. Supreme Court in May 2001 all but invalidated the 1996 state initiative, approved by 56 percent of voters, that made marijuana legal for seriously ill patients and caregivers. The nation's top court said federal law prohibited distribution of the drug.

Proposition 225: The measure had been acknowledged as unconstitutional by its backers even before it was narrowly approved by voters in 1998. The next summer the state Supreme Court struck it down, which required legislative and congressional candidates to pledge support for a term-limit amendment to the U.S. Constitution or be branded on the election ballot as having refused to do so.

Proposition 5: In August 1999, the California Supreme Court struck down the 1998 measure that promised self-sufficiency for the state's Indian tribes and big-time casino gambling on California soil. Proposition 5 was adopted as a statute after the costliest initiative campaign in U.S. history.

Proposition 22: The state Supreme Court in May 2008 ruled that the measure's statutory ban on gay marriage violates the state constitution. Proposition 22, approved in 2000 by 61 percent of voters, defined marriage in state law as a union between a man and a woman.

Source: Bee archives; Bee researcher Sheila A. Kern

http://www.sacbee.com/capitolandcalifor ... 32822.html