Mayor Newsome’s Kingdom: Fine Line Between Anarchy and Civil Disobedience
Commentary by Steve Yuhas
February 23, 2004

Who will protect the public when the police violate the law? An intriguing question posed by President Johnson’s chief legal officer, U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, and one that should be pondered by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. An event that started as a publicity stunt and, arguably, an act of civil disobedience has now escalated to anarchy in the City of San Francisco.

Newly elected Mayor Gavin Newsome woke up one morning and decided that the law enacted by two thirds of the people of California only a few short years ago defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman is unconstitutional. After this epiphany, which assures him election to any post in San Francisco for the rest of his life, he directed city employees to illegally modify official state documents and issue them to people clearly not entitled to them.

When word spread, through press releases from the mayor’s office, that gays and lesbians could now legally marry lines began forming on the steps of city hall. Soon so many people were lined up to pay a fee for illegal and unenforceable documents that the lines became full blown block party as men in dresses, women in tuxedos, and gay choral groups sang show tunes to celebrate the occasion. People from across the United States and other countries flocked to Newsome’s kingdom to be married; all of them hoping that the fatwa issued by Newsome declaring the marriages as legal and binding would be recognized where they live.

It could be that Newsome was worried that his city was going to trail Provincetown as the first city to have a legal gay marriage, or it could be that he is truly demented and actually believes that the mayor of San Francisco actually has the authority to adjudicate the constitutionality of state law. Whatever the reason for his dubious behavior, everyone in California should be worried when a government official, in whatever their capacity, or a private citizen defies the law and actually encourages anarchy.

Newsome’s actions in San Francisco are not unlike the notion of yelling FIRE in a crowded theater. Sure, the First Amendment provides Americans the right of free speech, but some speech is limited to assure order and to respect the rights of others. Unfortunately for Newsome he has yelled FIRE in the theater insofar as he believes that gays have a constitutional right to marry, but the voters overwhelmingly decided otherwise. The voters made gay marriage the equivalent of yelling FIRE, but Newsome and his staff continue yelling – regardless of the damage or consequence.

There is no question that all the yelling going on in the city by the bay is unlawful, but no judge will order it to stop and so far the two people responsible for enforcing the laws in the state are absent.

The same constitution that Newsome cites as reason for violating state law mandates that the Attorney General enforce it. Article V, Section 13 of the California Constitution commands that Bill Lockyer uniformly and adequately enforce the laws of the state. Mayor Newsome is in clear violation of not only the family code that defines marriage as one man and one woman, but also the CA Penal Code, Section 359 that requires only marriage authorized by law to be solemnized in law and Section 360 that bars illegal modification of the marriage license; violations that could carry fines and jail time for each offense.

The mayor of a major city in California compelling his employees to violate the law should be something of interest to the man sworn to uphold the laws of the state, one would think, but the only thing coming out of the Lockyer’s office is his praise for the upholding of the “Do Not Call Registry” in federal court. Perhaps he didn’t hear about the illegal and fraudulent marriage licenses being issued in San Francisco, but the Governor did, surely he is acting to stop what will inevitably be chaos after these licenses are found to be illegal and invalid, right?

Well, not exactly. Between important discussions about where to locate the cigar lounge on the grounds of the capitol and issuing a proclamation declaring this week “Future Farmers of America Week,” Schwarzenegger issued a statement encouraging San Francisco officials to obey the law. How fortunate for Newsome that the two people compelled by the constitution to put rogue mayors and citizens in check have either said nothing about the issue at all or simply are encouraging people to obey the law.

I have an idea – how about instead of having laws at all we simply send people to Sacramento and vote on initiatives brought by the people that encourage us to act in certain ways, but not require it? Imagine a state where mayors could wake up and simply decide that abortion is no longer a constitutional right. They could summon the full power of the police force to block abortion clinics and deny women the right to choose. Or, even better, term limits should be simple suggestions and after a politician is termed out of office they could just stay there, anointing themselves for another term. Speed limits, taxes, vehicle license fees, building codes, and other infringements on our freedoms can all be ignored because we have now decided that laws just don’t matter anymore.

Mayor Newsome and his staff know they are in violation of the law and the people authorized and compelled to enforce our laws refuse to do anything except issue press releases or ignore the matter all together. It is going to be interesting to see how all of this unfolds as people from all over the world who paid for a marriage license issued by the fiefdom of San Francisco and her Lord Newsome return to their homes to demand full recognition under the full faith and credit clause of the U.S. Constitution.

In the end it is going to be the tax payers of California who pay for this fiasco because the police are violating the law and there is nobody acting to protect us.