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Herm a Hi ll Ka y (SBN 30734)hkay@law. berkeley.eduBERKELEYCHOOLF L A WUniversi ty of Cal i forniaBerkeley , CA 94720Telephon e: (5 10) 643-267 1Facsim ile: (5 10) 643-2673Michae l S . Wald (SB N 47 2 19)mwa ld@stanford. eduSTANFORD A W CHOOL559 Na than Abbot t W ayStanford, CA 9 4 3 0 5Telephone: (650) 723-0322Facsimile: (650) 725-0253

Attorneys for Amici CuriaeCalifornia Professors o f Family Law

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTNORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

KRISTIN M . PERRY, SANDRA B. STIER,PAUL T. KATAM I, and JEFFREY J.ZARRILLO,

Plaintiffs,v.

Case No. CV-09-2292 VRW

ARNO LD SCHW ARZENEG GER, in his officialcapacity as Governor of C alifornia; EDM UN D G .BR OW N, JR., in his official capacity as AttorneyGeneral of California; MARK B. HO RTO N, in hisofficial capacity as Director of the California

official capacity as Clerk-Recorder for the Co unty Judge: Chief Judge vau ghn R. walkerof Alarneda; and DEAN C. LOGAN, in his official

APPLICATION TO FILE ANAMICUS CURIAE BRIEF INSLTPPoRT OF ANDSTATEMENT OF INTEREST OF~ e ~ a r t m e n tf public H ealth and State Registrar ofVital Statistics; LINET TE SCO TT, in her official

capacity as Deputy D irector of Health Information& Strategic Planning for the California Departmentof Public Health; PATR ICK O'COIVNELL, in hiscapacity as k e g i s t r a r - ~ e c o r d e r / ~ o u n t ~lerk forthe County of Los Ang eles,

AMICI CURIAE

Defendants.APPLICATION TO FILE AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF

Case No . C V-09--2292 VRW

Case3:09-cv-02292-VRW Document570 Filed02/02/10 Page1 of 5

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APPLICATION TO FILE AN AMICUS CU RIAE BRIEFIN SUPPOR T OF PLAINTIFFS AND

STATEM ENT OF INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE

Am ici cu riae hereby respec tfully ap ply for leave to file an amicus curiae brief in support ofthe plaintiffs.I1 Amici are all professors of family law in California. Amici include the authors of major11 casebooks and treatises on family law, as well as numerous scho larly works related to the issuebefore this Court. Amici are extremely familiar with California and national family law history,legislation, case law, and policy as they apply to this case. As family law scholars, amici have a11 substantial interest in the issue before this Court, which con cerns a central aspect of family law ,the nature of marriage.

Am ici agree with both the plaintiffs and de fendants in this case that m arriage is a criticalinstitution in society. Throug h both law and cu ltur e, marriage carrie s with it distinctive personal,psychological, and social benefits to both adults and children. Thus, any laws that depriveindividuals of access to marriage raise substantial conc erns regarding the prom otion of fam ily lifeand the well-being of adults and children. Am ici support plaintiffs' claims that there are noreasonable justifications, in terms of the purposes of family law, for depriving individuals of theopportunity to m arry someone of the same sex and that P roposition 8 therefore violates plaintiffs'rights under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the United States Constitution.)I In this brief, amici focus on two of the argu me nts proffered by those seeking to justify the11 constitutionality of denying same sex couples the opportunity to marry: (a) that the desire topreserve a "traditional" definition of marriage is an adequate justification for denying individualsthe right to marry someone of the same sex; and (b) that by providing same-sex couples the11 opportunity to en ter into domestic partnerships C alifornia has afforded them a marriage-like status)I that is sufficient to meet the State's o bligations under the Equal Protection C lause. Am ici believe

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that both contentions lack merit from a constitutional or family law perspective. W e believe thatour expertise with respect to these issues will contribute to the deliberations of this Court.

Amici Curiae include:Sco tt Altma n, V ice Dean and Virginia and Fred. H. Bice Professor of Law, U niversity ofSouthern California Law Center;R. Ri ch ard Ba nks , Jackson Eli Reynolds Professor of Law Professor of Law, StanfordUniversity;G ra ce G an z Blum ber g, Professor of Law, University of California, Los Angeles Schoolof Law;Ja n et B ow erm aster , Professor of Law, California Western School of Law;Ca r o l S. B ru ch , Distinguished Professor Emerita, University of California, Davis Schoolof Law;Pa tric ia C ain , Professor of Law, Santa Clara School of Law;J a n C. C ostello, Professor of Law, Loyola Law School, Loyola Marymount University;B a r b a r a J. Cox , Clara Shortridge Foltz Professor of Law, California W estern School ofLaw;H. J a y F olb erg , Professor of Law Em eritus, University of San Francisco School of Law;Deborah L. Forman, Professor of Law and J. Allan Cook & Mary Schalling CookChildren's Law Scholar, Whittier Law School;Jo an H . Hollinger, Lecturer-in-ResidenceIDirector Child Advocacy P rogram, Universityof California, Berkeley School of Law;Li sa Ikem oto , Associate Professor of Law, University of California, Davis School of Law;C ou rtn ey G. Joslin , Acting Professor of Law, University of California, Davis School ofLaw;Herma Hill Kay, Barbara Nachtrieb Armstrong Professor of Law, University ofCalifornia, Berkeley School of Law;

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La w ren ce L evine, Professor of Law, University o f the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law;M ay a M an ian , Associate Professor of Law, University of San Francisco School of Law;Melissa M ur ra y, Assistant Professor of Law ,, University of California, Berkeley Schoolof Law;Jo h n M yer s, Distinguished Professor and Scholar, University of the Pacific, McGeorgeSchool of Law;Doug NeJaine, Assistant Professor of Law, Loyola Law School, Loyola MarymountUniversity;Pa tti Panic cia, Assistant Professor of Law, Pepperdine School of Law;Shelley Sa xe r, Professor of Law , Pepperdine School of Law ;E.G ary Sp itko , Professor of Law, Santa Clara School of Law;Nom i Sto lzenbe rg, Nathan and Lilly Shappell Professor of L aw, University of SouthernCalifornia Law Center;Mich ael S. W ald , Jackson Eli Reynolds Professor of Law Em eritus, Stanford University;Ja ne t W einstein, Professor of Law, California Western School of Law;D. Kelly W eisberg , Professor of Law, Hastings College of the Law;Lois W eitho rn, Professor of Law, Hastings College of the Law;Mich ael Za m pe rin i, Professor of Law, Golden Gate University.

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Dated: February 1,2010

Respectfully submitted,Herma Hill Kay (SBN 30734)[email protected] elq eduBERKELEYCHOOLF LAWUniversity o f CaliforniaBerkeley, CA 94720Telephone: (5 10) 643-267 1Facsimile: (5 10) 643-2673Michael S . Wald (SBN 4721 9)[email protected] Nathan Abbott WayStanford, CA 94305Telephone:(650) 723-0322Facsimile: (650) 725-0253

By:Herma Hill KayAttorneys for:AMCI CALIFORNIAROFESSORSF FAMILYAW

APPLICATION TO FILE AMICUS CURIAE BRIEFCAWFORNlA PROFES SORS OF FAMILY LAWCase No. CV-09-2292VRW


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