NBC reporter Pete Williams offered his initial take on Tuesday’s oral arguments concerning California’s Proposition 8:
“Number one, it’s quite obvious the U.S. Supreme Court is not prepared to issue any kind of sweeping ruling about gay rights,” he said on MSNBC. “No member of the Court seemed to be very interested in that. Secondly, the Supreme Court, both liberals and conservatives, seems to be worried about writing a decision that will apply to any state outside California. Now, the proponents for the four gay couples that brought this case are really urging the Supreme Court to say that marriage is such a fundamental right that no state can constitutionally deny same-sex couples the right to marry. There seems to be very little eagerness for any members of the Court to embrace that broad of a ruling.”
He later added: “I think several members of the Court seem to be struggling to find a way to limit this case only to California, and one way to do that might be simply to say that the Proposition 8 proponents had no legal power to bring this in the first place. I think frankly, for the advocates of same-sex marriage, my guess is that’s the best they can hope for.”
