...when the standing issue in the Prop. 8 case was first raised.
John Fund comments on the implications for the concept of initiatives.
Look, the whole idea of initiatives is to allow the voters to pass laws that the political establishment doesn't like*.
If the only parties with standing to defend a law in court are a few of the same government officials over whose objections the law was passed... well, what's the point?
(No, I'm not a fan of Prop. 8, but both factions are going about this entirely wrong, and from a structural perspective the antics of the SSM proponents are the more damaging.)
* Though we've lately been plagued by "initiatives" written by political insiders; "the Governor's package of initiatives" is pretty much routine these days, and I seem to recall some recent "initiatives" placed on the ballot by a majority of the Legislature, which wanted to pass a law but didn't want to take responsibility for it.
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