News Alert

Home School Legal Defense Association 8/11/08, A Great Victory for California Homeschoolers [Excerpts]:In a unanimous decision, the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District ruled that "California statutes permit home schooling as a species of private school education."

Today's decision stands in stark contrast to the opinion this same three-judge panel issued in February, which would have made California the only state in the union to outlaw home education had it remained in effect.

"It is unusual for an appellate court to grant a petition for rehearing as this court did in March," said HSLDA Chairman Mike Farris, "but it is truly remarkable for a court to completely reverse its own earlier opinion. We thank you for your prayers and give God the glory for this great victory."

When the court vacated its earlier decision on March 25, 2008, it invited interested organizations to file friend-of-the-court briefs. "I have never seen such an impressive array of people and organizations coming to the defense of homeschooling," said Farris, who was one of the attorneys who argued the case on rehearing along with Alliance Defense Fund attorney, Jeff Shafer.

California's three largest homeschool organizations, California Homeschool Network, Homeschool Association of California and Christian Home Education Association joined together in one brief to defend the right of all parents to homeschool. HSLDA, Family Protection Ministries and Focus on the Family also joined in a separate brief. Numerous other private organizations came to the defense of home education as did California's governor, attorney general, and superintendent of public instruction.

[TBC: Amazing, some good news out of California!]

Onenewsnow.com, 8/13/08 [Excerpts from an Albert Mohler editorial]: The Gay Marriage Issue—Proposition 8 will appear on the November ballot in California. The proposition—put on the ballot by public support—is an attempt to return the state's marriage law to where it stood earlier this year, with marriage defined as the union of a man and a woman. In 2000 the people of California voted by an overwhelming margin to pass an initiative, Proposition 22, which stated: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."

That is where the matter stood until May 15 of this year, when California's Supreme Court ruled by a vote of 4-3 that "same-sex marriages" must be legalized and recognized in the state. Thus, Proposition 22 and all similar laws were struck down by the court, and the court ordered that the state must allow and recognize same-sex marriages, effective approximately one month later.

The California Constitution still does not mention "same-sex marriage." No such right existed before May 15. The right exists now only by judicial action, not by any amendment to the constitution. [The court ruled] that the right of same-sex couples to marry is a "fundamental right"—a right that is either enshrined within the constitution, drawn from the notion of natural rights, or a necessary implication of the constitution. The court also defined homosexuals as a protected group and thus deserving of special attention in questions of rights.

But the California Supreme Court is not the final authority in such matters—the people are. The court and its decisions are ultimately accountable to the people, who can, when motivated by great concern or outrage, change the court's composition or amend the constitution itself. The voters of California now have the opportunity to define and defend marriage and to return the state's definition of marriage to where it stood just three months ago.

[TBC: Is it possible that the "Golden State" could dig up two righteous nuggets in a row?]