by TChris

Prepare to hear more complaints about "activist" judges -- "activist" being defined as any judge who interprets the law in a way that upsets the religious right -- after a California Superior Court judge ruled today that the state's voter-approved definition of marriage as the union of a man and a woman violates the state's constitution.

"The denial of marriage to same-sex couples appears impermissibly arbitrary," wrote San Francisco Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer. "Simply put, same-sex marriage cannot be prohibited solely because California has always done so before."

Drawing an analogy to the "separate-but-equal" justification for school segregation that prevailed before the Brown decision, the judge held that providing "marriage-like rights without marriage" is insufficient to assure equal protection of the law.