Ted Olsen and gay marriage

Interesting irony. Ted Olsen, who was the chief lawyer who argued (for Bush) in Gore v. Bush before the Supreme Court in 2000, will be co-litigator of a suit to take Prop8 to the federal courts, and presumably to the Supreme Court. He sounds quite on board, saying that case was about something else; this is about civil rights, equal protection and due process.

On the other hand, many voices are saying don't go that route; it can't win in the current court. And others are saying it should shift from the courts to the voters. One argument even says that it's good for the movement that CA Supremes did not overturn Prop8, because then that would have only inflamed the rants against "activist judges" and would postpone true acceptance. Whereas, if the voters overturn it, after a full blown campaign from both sides, then there won't be a whole lot they can say in backlash.

Makes sense to me. On the other hand, if the Supreme Court did overturn it, it would apply nationwide instead of state by state. I can't imagine it happening -- although Kennedy was the one who wrote the strong opinions in overturning both Colorado's Amendment 2 and Texas' sodomy laws, so it could possibly squeek through on a 5/4 vote. But I don't think you can equate a vote against sodomy laws and for gay marriage.

But it's interesting that Ted Olsen is taking it on. Stay tuned.

Ralph