"Sodomite Supression Act" sparks backlash in Calif.
Cleverly called the "Sodomite Supression Act," a proposed ballot initiative in California for 2016 has taken things to a new level. It would not only criminalize sodomy but also allow those who engage in it to be killed.
The controversial proposal has prompted calls to reform the state's unique ballot initiative process, reports CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy.
California is often called the liberal "left coast," but politics there are anything but predictable. The state's system allows some ideas to get to the ballot box that couldn't get off the starting block in other states.
California state constitutional law expert Robert Peck said most people would find the proposed law insensible.
"California is often used as an example when you study state constitutional law of how easily things can get into a state constitution," he said. "You just have to pay $200 and file some forms is basically all you need to start the process."
The man behind the initiative is Matt McLaughlin, a lawyer from Huntington Beach. He's not speaking publicly, but his initiative states, "The people of California wisely command... that any person who willingly touches another person of the same gender for purposes of sexual gratification be put to death by bullets to the head or by any other convenient method."
He does not specify what other forms of death he finds "convenient."
What is inconvenient for McLaughlin is that he needs more than 365,000 signatures to get his proposal on the ballot. It's a hurdle in California designed to keep the ballot from getting too bonkers. In the past someone wanted to outlaw divorce and more recently there was a proposal to break California into six different states.
California Attorney General Kamala Harris can't simply quash a ballot proposal for being intolerant, but one Californian is taking her own initiative.
Charlotte Law just filed the "Intolerant Jackass Act" which would force anyone proposing killing gays or lesbians into "sensitivity training."
In reality, neither of these proposals would be legal, so even if they passed they wouldn't last, but when the weather is so blissfully boring, at least Californians have something to talk about.