Oct 29, 2008

Leading Legal Scholars Reject Prop 8 Arguments

Verdict is in: 59 Constitutional and Family Law Professors from 14 California Law Schools Analyze and Reject Prop. 8 Claims

SACRAMENTO – Today the NO on Prop 8 campaign released a rare joint statement signed by 59 distinguished law professors concluding that the Prop. 8 campaign’s legal arguments are false, adding their voices to a growing chorus of educators, newspapers and other experts who say the Prop. 8 campaign has been deceptive and misleading.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 29, 2008

Contact: Ali Bay
Phone: 916.284.9187

Julia Spiess
Phone: 916.601.8282

Leading Legal Scholars Reject Prop 8 Arguments
Verdict is in: 59 Constitutional and Family Law Professors from 14 California Law Schools Analyze and Reject Prop. 8 Claims

SACRAMENTO – Today the NO on Prop 8 campaign released a rare joint statement signed by 59 distinguished law professors concluding that the Prop. 8 campaign’s legal arguments are false, adding their voices to a growing chorus of educators, newspapers and other experts who say the Prop. 8 campaign has been deceptive and misleading.

The list of scholars include Erwin Chemerinsky, the Founding Dean of the University of California School of Law; Kathleen Sullivan, Former Dean of Stanford Law School; and Paul Brest, Dean Emeritus of Stanford Law School.

“We recognize that people of integrity can differ in their views of the meaning of marriage,” the scholars write. “But people who want to take the right to marry away from same-sex couples should not rely on misleading claims about the current state of the law or about what Proposition 8 would do.”

The legal scholars conclude:

• Prop. 8 clearly discriminates against gay men and lesbians.
• Prop. 8 would have no effect on the tax exemptions of churches.
• Prop. 8 would have no effect on teaching or the protection of parental rights already provided by state law.

“As teachers of the law we feel an obligation to speak out when claims are made about the law that are simply and clearly false,” said Professor Pam Karlan, the Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Professor of Public Interest Law at Stanford Law School.

“The Prop. 8 campaign can’t produce a single respected expert to back up any of their preposterous claims,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), a member of the House Judiciary Committee. “Californians deserve to know the facts. I am grateful California’s best legal scholars have taken the time to review the facts and the law and to share their conclusions with the public.”

Read the Constitutional Law Professors’ Statement About Proposition 8 (pdf)

The full text list of the Constitutional Law Professors follows.

• Kathryn Abrams
  Herma Hill Kay Distinguished Professor of Law
  UC-Berkeley School of Law



• John M. Adler
  Professor of Law
  University of San Francisco School of Law



• Scott Altman
  Vice Dean and Virginia S. and Fred H. Bice Professor of Law
  University of Southern California Gould School of Law



• Diane Marie Amann
  Professor of Law
  University of California, Davis School of Law



• Vikram Amar
  Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law
  University of California, Davis, School of Law



• Angelo N. Ancheta
  Assistant Professor of Law
  Santa Clara University School of Law



• R. Richard Banks
  Jackson Eli Reynolds Professor of Law
  Stanford Law School



• Ash Bhagwat
  Professor of Law
  University of California, Hastings College of the Law



• Grace Ganz Blumberg
  Professor of Law
  UCLA School of Law



• Paul Brest
  Dean Emeritus
  Stanford Law School



• Rebecca Brown
  Newton Professor of Constitutional Law
  USC Gould School of Law



• Kim Buchanan
  Assistant Professor
  University of Southern California Gould School of Law



• Alan Brownstein
  Professor of Law
  Boochever and Bird Chair for the Study and Teaching of Freedom and Equality
  UC Davis School of Law



• Patricia A. Cain
  Inez Mabie Distinguished Professor of Law
  Santa Clara University



• Erwin Chemerinsky
  Founding Dean
  University of California, Irvine School of Law



• Eric C. Christiansen
  Associate Professor of Law
  Academic Co-Director, Honors Lawyering Program
  Co-Director, GGU-Paris Nanterre Comparative Law Program
  Golden Gate University School of Law



• William Cohen
  C. Wendell and Edith M. Carlsmith Professor, Emeritus
  Stanford Law School



• Jan C. Costello
  Professor of Law
  Loyola Law School - Loyola Marymount University



• David B. Cruz
  Professor of Law
  University of Southern California Gould School of Law



• Mary L. Dudziak
  Judge Edward J. and Ruey L. Guirado Professor of Law, History and Political Science
  University of Southern California Law School



• David L. Faigman
  John F. Digardi Distinguished Professor of Law
  University of California, Hastings College of the Law



• Deborah L. Forman
  Professor of Law
  J. Allan Cook & Mary Schalling Cook Children's Law Scholar
  Whittier Law School



• Philip Frickey
  Alexander F. and May T. Morrison Professor of Law
  UC Berkeley School of Law



• Thomas C. Grey
  Nelson Bowman Sweitzer and Marie B. Sweitzer Professor of Law, Emeritus
  Stanford Law School



• Pratheepan Gulasekaram
  Assistant Professor
  Santa Clara University School of Law



• Elizabeth L. Hillman
  Professor of Law
  University of California Hastings College of Law



• Joan Heifetz Hollinger
  Professor and Lecturer-in-Residence in Family Law
  University of California, Berkeley



• Marina Hsieh
  Assistant Dean for Academic & Professional Development
  Santa Clara University Law School



• Leslie Gielow Jacobs
  Director, Capital Center for Government Law & Policy and Professor of Law
  Pacific McGeorge School of Law



• Courtney G. Joslin
  Acting Professor of Law
  UC Davis School of Law, King Hall



• Pamela S. Karlan
  Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Professor of Public Interest Law
  Stanford Law School



• Kenneth L. Karst
  David G. Price and Dallas P. Price Professor of Law Emeritus
  UCLA School of Law



• Herma Hill Kay
  Barbara Nachtrieb Armstrong Professor of Law
  University of California, Berkeley



• Ellen S. Kreitzberg
  Professor of Law
  Santa Clara University School of Law



• Brian K. Landsberg
  Distinguished Professor and Scholar
  Pacific McGeorge School of Law



• Carlton F.W. Larson
  Acting Professor of Law
  UC Davis School of Law



• Lawrence Lessig
  C. Wendell and Edith M. Carlsmith Professor of Law
  Stanford Law School



• Lawrence C. Levine
  Professor of Law
  Pacific McGeorge School of Law



• Goodwin Liu
  Associate Dean and Professor of Law
  UC Berkeley School of Law



• Jean C. Love
  John A. and Elizabeth H. Sutro Professor of Law
  Santa Clara University School of Law



• Maya Manian
  Associate Professor
  University of San Francisco School of Law



• Lawrence C. Marshall
  Associate Dean for Public Service and Clinical Education & David & Stephanie Mills Director of Clinical Education
  Stanford Law School



• Jenny S. Martinez
  Associate Professor of Law and Justin M. Roach, Jr. Faculty Scholar
  Stanford Law School



• John E.B. Myers
  Distinguished Professor and Scholar
  University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law
  



• Julie Nice
  Visiting Professor of Law
  University of San Francisco School of Law



• Deborah L. Rhode
  McFarland Professor of Law
  Stanford Law School



• Camille Gear Rich
  Assistant Professor of Law
  USC Gould School of Law



• Margaret M. Russell
  Professor
  Santa Clara University School of Law



• Jane S. Schacter
  William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law
  Stanford Law School



• Darien Shanske
  Associate Professor
  University of California Hastings College of the Law



• John Cary Sims
  Professor of Law
  Pacific McGeorge School of Law
  



• Edward Steinman
  Professor of Law
  Santa Clara University School of Law



• Kathleen M. Sullivan
  Stanley Morrison Professor of Law and Former Dean
  Stanford Law School



• Jonathan D. Varat
  Professor of Law
  University of California, Los Angeles School of Law



• Michael S. Wald
  Jackson Eli Reynolds Professor of Law, Emeritus
  Stanford Law School



• Kelly Weisberg
  Professor of Law
  University of California, Hastings College of the Law



• Lois A. Weithorn
  Professor of Law
  University of California, Hastings College of the Law
  University of California



• Stephanie M. Wildman
  Professor of Law and Director, Center for Social Justice and Public Service
  Santa Clara University School of Law



• Michael Zamperini
  Professor of Law
  Golden Gate University School of Law

Titles and Institutional Affiliations Are Included Only for Purposes of Identification