Officials from Imperial County California filed an emergency motion yesterday to join with ProtectMarriage.com to defend Proposition 8 in the upcoming court case led by Ted Olson and David Boies. Located at the southeastern tip of the state, the largely conservative county supported Proposition 8 by an overwhelming 69 percent of the vote in 2008. From SFGate:

The Imperial County Board of Supervisors voted in favor of an emergency motion Tuesday to intervene in the case. Supervisors say the county’s participation is needed because Attorney General Jerry Brown supports overturning the voter-approved measure, while Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has taken a neutral position on it.

The board approved the motion by a 3-2 margin.

Imperial County also voted for the Briggs Initiative back in 1978 by the same margin, 69 percent. The measure which would have barred gays and lesbians from teaching in public schools, ultimately went down to defeat thanks to gay rights pioneer and icon Harvey Milk.

It’s interesting that the supervisors felt it necessary to file an “emergency” motion to intervene in the case. Did they also take similar dramatic action when they found out Imperial County has the second highest teen pregnancy rate in the state?

The more things change… the more they stay the same.

Post by ILO on 12/16/09 at 2:29 am