California Marriage Forms and Marriage Licenses Cannot Be Changed Until Legislature Changes Marriage Statutes
by Staff
May 30, 2008
Sacramento, California (christiansunite.com) - The California marriage forms cannot be changed to include same-sex "marriages" until the numerous statutes determining marriage licenses and marriage procedures are changed, according to a leading West Coast pro-family organization that studies legislative process.
The California marriage forms cannot be changed to include same-sex "marriages" until the numerous statutes determining marriage licenses and marriage procedures are changed, according to a leading West Coast pro-family organization that studies legislative process.
"The marriage statutes require a standard application form for marriage licenses that says 'bride' and 'groom' with the clear prerequisite that marriage is only for a 'man' and a 'woman,'" said Randy Thomasson, president of Campaign for Children and Families (CCF). "The California Office of Vital Records knew this in 2004 when it rejected the City of San Francisco's altered marriage forms. The statutes haven't changed, and only the Legislature can change them."
In 2004, when San Francisco issued some 4,000 homosexual "marriage" licenses, the Office of Vital Records rejected the altered forms, saying "We have to follow the law when we process these forms. It's part of public statute, so we are following state law in the way we record and register marriages.
"Unlike Massachusetts, which has no statutes on marriage licenses forms and processes, California cannot change its standard marriage form or processes until the Legislature passes and the Governor signs legislation in response to the Supreme Court's ruling," explained Thomasson. "The Governor's people cannot unilaterally change the marriage forms. T hat requires legislation or an initiative."
"The Supreme Court can't require the Legislature to do anything," said Gary Kreep, executive director of the California-based United States Justice Foundation. "All the court could do is declare a statute unconstitutional, although in this case there was no basis for it. After that, it's up to the Legislature or the voters to respond. The Schwarzenegger administration can't do anything to the marriage form and processes until the Legislature passes a bill changing the existing statutes."
The California Constitution expressly prohibits the judicial and executive branches from making laws (Article 3, Section 3); only the Legislature and the people using the initiative process may change the law (Article 4, Section 1). The Governor must faithfully implement California's statutes (Article 5, Section 1). The Constitution can only be changed with voter approval (Article 18).
"The principle of judicial restraint is a covenant between judges and the people from whom their power derives," wrote California Supreme Court Associate Justice Carol Corrigan in her dissent to the May 15 majority opinion on same-sex "marriage." "It protects the people against judicial overreaching. It is no answer to say that judges can break the covenant so long as they are enlightened or well-meaning. If there is to be a new understanding of the meaning of marriage in California, it should develop among the people of our state and find its expression at the ballot box."
