Conservative Murrieta Law Firm Helps Reignite Battle Over Prop. 8
Inland Empire gay marriage advocates are hopeful they will make judicial gains in spite of local opposition.
The battle to uphold Proposition 8’s restrictions against gay marriage found new support from a Murrieta-based nonprofit law firm.
Advocates for Faith & Freedom plans to file legal briefs with the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by March 15 as it defends the Imperial County Clerk’s ability to enforce the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman. Advocates for Faith & Freedom announced their backing of newly-elected Imperial County Clerk Chuck Storey on Feb. 25.
Storey was sworn into office Jan. 3, and filed papers Feb. 25 to become one of the defendants in a federal lawsuit over the state’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriages.
Last year, U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn R. Walker ruled Proposition 8 unconstitutional. The lawsuit has now gone to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Robert Tyler, a Murrieta resident and the lead attorney for Advocates for Faith & Freedom, said he stepped into the contentious foray because state judges are dismissing the will of California voters.
“It goes against the basic principle of democratic values…the idea that each person’s vote counts and that a single judge in San Francisco would single-handedly overturn the vote of the people of California is unbelievable,” Tyler said.
