Bush v. Gore lawyers join forces to challenge Proposition 8

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Steve Wiegand | Sacramento Bee

A strange-bedfellows duo of top constitutional lawyers said today they are challenging the legal validity of Proposition 8, the November 2008 ballot measure that prohibited same-sex marriages in California.

Speaking at a Los Angeles press conference, attorneys Theodore B. Olson and David Boies said they had filed a suit in federal court on behalf of two gay California couples, and would seek an injunction to stay the law while arguing it is a violation of the equal-protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Olson, a former U.S. solicitor general, represented former President George W. Bush in Bush v. Gore, which decided the 2000 presidential election. Boies represented Bush's Democratic challenger, Al Gore.

The case "is not about liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican," said Olson. "This case is about the equal rights guaranteed to every American under the United States Constitution."

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