On Tuesday, California Superior Court Justice Raymond M. Cadei declared the controversial “Sodomite Suppression Act” unconstitutional and he refused to allow the proposed ballot initiative to be circulated. In his ruling, Judge Cadei described the hateful initiative that called for killing gay people “patently unconstitutional on its face”.
Preparation and official issuance of a circulating title and summary for the Act by the Attorney General would be inappropriate, waste public resources, generate unnecessary divisions among the public, and tend to mislead the electorate.
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The ridiculous proposal is the brainchild of bigoted Southern California Attorney Matt McLaughlin. In addition to calling for executing people by shooting them in the head for engaging in gay sex, the measure would have barred homosexuals from public office. In addition, it would have made distribution of pro-gay literature or “sodomistic propaganda” punishable by a one million dollar fine, a 10 year prison sentence and permanent expulsion from the state of California.
While the initiative stood little chance of making its way onto the ballot, much less of being approved by California voters, the judge’s decision nevertheless deals a welcome end to an atrocious proposal. Although the initiative process empowers ordinary citizens to propose laws to be considered by the state’s electorate, there is no reason for judges to submit to an abuse of that process by allowing unconstitutional bills that sanction murder to be voted upon.
Judge Cadei’s decision is an obvious “no brainer”, but apparently it was not a foregone conclusion that a judge would assert his authority to block the measure from being circulated to appear on the 2016 ballot. California Attorney General Kamala Harris had been urging the Superior Court to make a ruling so that she would not be required by law to write a summary and permit the circulation of the proposal.
Matt McLaughlin will undoubetedly plot his next move to try to revive his hateful proposal, but the Superior Court ruling probably effectively puts and end to the “kill the gays” initiative. Now maybe California can find a way to have McLaughlin disbarred, because as an advocate for committing hate crimes and murder against gay and lesbian residents of California, he has no business practicing law.
Keith Brekhus is a progressive American who currently resides in Red Lodge, Montana. He is co-host for the Liberal Fix radio show. He holds a Master’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Missouri. In 2002, he ran for Congress as a Green Party candidate in the state of Missouri. In 2014, he worked as a field organizer for Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick’s successful re-election bid in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District. He can be followed on Twitter @keithbrekhus or on Facebook.
