Support in polls for same-sex marriage could influence Proposition 8 legal battle

Dan82 · May 23, 2011

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-gay-marriage-support-20110523,0,5241801.story

A series of recent polls suggesting a majority of Americans support the right of gays to marry may influence the outcome of the legal dispute over California's ban on same-sex marriages, some legal experts and gay rights advocates predict.

The courts don't look to opinion polls when they decide cases, but shifts in popular sentiment can influence their thinking on evolving interpretations of civil rights, constitutional experts say.

"I do not believe that any justices base their decision on opinion polls, but that does not deny they can have a subtle effect," said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Irvine law school and a renowned constitutional scholar.

In the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Roe vs. Wade opinion on abortion rights, late Justice Harry Blackmun is said by historians to have kept polling data in the case files and relied on it to help shape his decision, said Loyola Law School professor Douglas NeJaime, an expert on sexual orientation law...

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-gay-marriage-support-20110523,0,5241801.story
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Support in polls for same-sex marriage could influence Proposition 8 legal battle

Dan82 Full Member

Dan82
Full Member