Bet on abject deference to the mob

Tomorrow, the California state supreme court will issue its ruling on the constitutionality of Proposition 8. The argument in favor of Proposition 8 is simple: 52% of the voters wanted it, so they get what they want. The argument against is also simple: the Califonia constitution requires a more complex, extended, and prolonged procedure to make major revisions of the constitution. Taking away human rights by constitutional amendment is such a major revision. Therefore, the quickie referendum route was unconstitutional. This was the argument of the state's attorney general.

I'm not betting a dime on the integrity of the California state supreme court. The justices know that the rule-by-referendum loony-tunes way of government in California makes them vulnerable to retaliation by recall. A bare majority of justices went out on a limb once to rule that equality before the law actually means equality for gay people too. Rightwingers sawed that limb off, and the justices got the message loud and clear. So I fully expect that we'll hear a lot about the sacredness of the democratic procedure, the sanctity of the voting booth, the will of the people, blah blah blah, as ways by which the justices will acquiesce to mob rule and allow this affront to human rights and the rule of law to stand. The justices will get to keep their jobs; that's the most important thing for them; the human rights of gay people can go hang.

As evidenced by the state's budget catastrophe, demagoguery runs California and all elected officials know that they are on a short lease. Any disgruntled mob able to secure enough signatures on a petition can throw the state into electoral chaos. That's how Governor Arnold got his job; now an angry mob is collecting signatures against him. With talk about a constitutional convention running rife, mass layoffs, defunded schools, canceled healthcare and welfare for poor people, anti-tax fervor, and growing public anger at everybody in or near Sacramento, no elected official wants to run afoul of a mob of vigilantes who'd just as soon string him up from the nearest tree. That includes justices on the supreme court.

I hope I'm wrong. I want to believe that law still rules in California, and that the court will defend its own decision--which was absolutely correct. But I know better having lived there. The mob is out to punish, and California's elected officers--including judges--are gutless. Expect Proposition 8 to be sustained.