Tammy Kim

The primary legal issue at tomorrow’s hearing before the California Supreme Court on the same sex marriage Prop 8 case is the narrow and extremely arcane question whether Prop 8 is an amendment to the state constitution or a revision of the state constitution. But appellate cases – and especially high profile and controversial appellate cases — are rarely decided on such narrow and arcane questions of law, even though lawyers and judges must pretend that they are. What’s really at stake in the Prop 8 case – and what will probably be the real deciding factor in the California Supreme Court’s decision – is the power and prestige of the California Supreme Court itself.