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Old 03-15-2005, 12:18 PM
The Interpreter The Interpreter is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2005
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The trial court judge isn't rewriting the law. No judge can do that. All he has done was find the current law as written inconsistent with the California state constitution. Of course this is appealable; and is being appealed by the State. The appellate courts can then decide to uphold or overturn the trial court judge's finding of unconstitutionality.

Considering the polemic nature of the case, it will undoubtedly find itself before the California Supreme Court, which will render the final ruling of the constitutionality of this particular law as written. All that notwithstanding, the courts cannot rewrite the law...not even the California Supreme Court.

In matters of constitutionality (equal protection, due process, coherence with codified principles, etc.), the most the courts can do is either a) declare a law unconstitutional and urge the legislature to write a new law, the terms of which ultimately would be drafted by the legislature not the courts; or b) require the executive to modify its enforcement of the current law in a way that does not offend the constitution of that particular state. Both options give considerable choice to the legislative or executive branches respectively as to how to modify their actions so as to be consistent with the judiciary's ruling.
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