U.S. Supreme Court Rulings
Celebrating marriage equality in California
 On Sunday, June 30 I had the honor of marching in the San Francisco Pride Parade and celebrating marriage equality in California.
One Giant Step Forward on Marriage Equality Our country took one giant, historic step forward with the Supreme Court striking down the Defense of Marriage Act ("DOMA") and rejecting the appeal of Proposition 8 proponents on procedural grounds.
In Oakland's amicus brief opposing Prop. 8, we argued that California's ban on same sex marriage was unconstitutional on its face, a crystal clear violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause, one of the hallmarks of the U.S. Constitution.
The high court's dismissal of the Prop. 8 proponents' appeal ushered in a new era in California, but left to another day the proclamation that our federal constitution compels all states to recognize same sex marriages. I am ecstatic about the results of the court's ruling for our state, and I enjoyed marching with some of the leaders who have been at the forefront of this struggle, and seeing so many couples lining up to get married after this basic right was denied for so long.
One Side Step on Affirmative Action While our country took a great step forward on marriage equality as a result of the Supreme Court's rulings, the Court also took one side step in the University of Texas case, not striking down affirmative action in public education, but imposing overly stringent standards that will make it next to impossible to consider race as one of many factors in college admissions.
One Heartbreaking Step Backward on Voting Rights And the court took a heartbreaking, sorrowful step backward, striking down the section of the Voting Rights Act that requires pre-approval of changes in election procedures for states with a history and continuing practice of erecting barriers to voting.
As the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. declared, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. Of course, it doesn't bend by itself. We are the ones who have to bend it.
Because of the courage of our forebears and the many heroes and sheroes of today's unrelenting fight to bring justice and equal rights to all, we can rejoice that marriage in California is a right for all of us. But the battle continues as we fight for marriage equality throughout the country, as we fight to remedy the legacy of slavery and legal discrimination and provide equal educational opportunity for people of color, the poor and women, and as we fight to protect the right to vote which is at the very heart of our democracy. Please check out some of my photos from the SF Pride march... and more about the recent work of the City Attorney's Office below. | 
