Jerry Brown to Supreme Court: Void Prop. 8

California Attorney General Jerry Brown has reversed his earlier opinion and urged the state Supreme Court to void Proposition 8. Brown filed a brief today saying Proposiiton 8 is unconstitutional because it deprives gay couples of a fundamental right.

Intiially after Prop 8 passed, Brown said in his role as attorney general he would fight to uphold the ballot initiative, even though he personally voted against it. But today he submitted his brief as one of the three legal challenges to Proposition 8 brought by equal marriage rights supporters.

Brown said:

Proposition 8 must be invalidated because the amendment process cannot be used to extinguish fundamental constitutional rights without compelling justification.