Massachusetts has company.

The California Supreme Court struck down the Golden State’s ban on same sex marriage Thursday in a broadly-worded, landmark ruling that invalidates virtually all laws that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.

The 4-3 ruling declared that the state Constitution protects a fundamental “right to marry” that extends equally to same-sex couples.

The majority opinion, by Chief Justice Ronald M. George, declared that any law that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation will be treated the same way as laws that discriminate by race or gender.

The decision was a surprise from the moderately conservative, Republican court that legal scholars have long dubbed “cautious.”

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger “respects” and says he will not attempt to overturn the state supreme judicial court’s ruling.

It’s not over, however - the scope of the court’s decision could be thrown into question by an initiative heading toward the November ballot.

Continue reading this article …

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, in his State of the State address Tuesday, assumed the role of director of “post-partisanship,” outlining an ambitious political agenda that will prove complex, costly, and extremely difficult, but promises big results in critical areas from health care to the environment.

As perhaps only he can (at least without widespread ridicule), the Governator defined the task before him as epic in proportions, urging that the challenge be accepted because the Golden State is “the modern equivalent of the ancient city-states of Athens and Sparta” - the epicenter of the ideas and strength needed to deliver a brighter future.

The governor’s lofty goals emerged just months after a campaign in which many Californians wondered which Schwarzenegger might emerge for a full term:

• The brash, hard-core conservative who called Democrats “girlie men” and publicly engaged the all-powerful teachers union in a battle (he lost)
• The social progressive who helped deliver landmark legislation on global warming and increased the minimum wage.

The answer this week seemed to suggest something for every audience: He pushed to reduce greenhouse gases and expand health care - both signature Democratic issues - while proposing to increase water storage and to reduce welfare spending, proposals sure to appeal more to Republicans.

Arnold the Collaborator has officially arrived.

For all the criticism over his spending cuts, Schwarzegger appears ready to champion aggressive environmental policy. California shall soon create the world’s first global warming pollution standard for transportation fuels, ratcheting down fuel carbon content 10 percent by 2020, he vowed.

The new standard could have implications for the auto industry and change the way gasoline is produced around the globe. Environmentalists hailed it as a way to reduce one of the state’s chief sources of greenhouse gas emissions and kick-start fledgling alternative fuel technologies.

Continue reading this article …