How much do you know about Californian constitutional law? Did Arnold veto the bill and pass it over to the courts, according to constitutional norms?
If I recall correctly, there was first a ballot proposition (not a constitutional amendment) that banned same-sex marriage in California. Some litigants challenged its constitutionality in
In re Marriage Cases (which is a perfectly normal thing to do in a constitutional democracy, though some don't understand that). The California legislature then passed a bill establishing same-sex marriage, and Arnold vetoed it, citing the earlier ballot proposition. The legislature did not have enough votes to over-ride the veto. The next term, the legislature passed a similar bill, and Arnold cited the pending
In re Marriage Cases appeal before the California Supreme Court and waited for the resolution of the cases.
The Supreme Court found that it was unconstitutional to grant marriage to opposite-sex couples while denying it to same-sex couples. Which is a perfectly legitimate exercise of judicial power. Nobody would argue that it was improper for the Supreme Court to rule that it was unconstitutional to grant marriage to same-race couples while denying it to mixed-race couples, would they? See, the argument on the merits is that sexuality is a valid basis on which to discriminate in law, not that the actions of the court in finding otherwise are
illegitimate. I can't stand the latter argument, whether it comes from someone on these boards or a moron talking-head on TV. Since judges, as non-political bodies, can't defend themselves, it really harms American democracy. Claiming that the actions of courts are illegitimate
when they are not makes people distrust the courts, and weakens the People's understanding of the law. It does violence to the concept of law generally, but, as I've argued elsewhere, right-wing authoritarians don't actually believe in law anyway, so it makes sense.
Getting back to the story, the people of California thought that the Court was wrong, and so they amended their constitution to overrule the Court (another perfectly normal thing to do in a constitutional democracy). I happen to think that the amendment is a shame, and violates principles of equality before the law upon which our country is based, but I have the understanding of law and American democracy not to ignorantly claim that the actions of the people of California are fundamentally illegitimate in some way.
Cleo