California Supreme Court Overturns Law Barring Human-Robot Marriage

May 27, 2009 - The California Supreme Court yesterday overturned a ban on human-robot marriage, nullifying a November 2028 voter decision that prohibited people from wedding anything digital.

The opinion, written by Chief Justice Lee Galese for a 6-1 majority, said that the vote violated the Marriage Rights Act that Congress passed in 2013.  That law legalized gay marriage across the country (and overturned California’s own law prohibiting same-sex marriage). But it also bars states from discriminating against any upright, intelligent life forms (including artificial ones) that want to wed, the court held.

The decision sparked celebrations among human-robot marriage advocates, who filed numerous suits over Proposition 52, the ballot initiative that won 53% of the vote in the November election.    

Chip Luver, the legal director for the National Artificial Intelligence Lovers Association (NAIL), called the decision a victory to the thousands of California technophiles who were praying they would receive equal status to marry any person or thing they wanted. 

“It is gratifying to see that the court has given all intelligent life forms, whether organic or synthetic, the right to a bridal registry or a bachelor party,” Luver said.

Five states have already passed laws allowing human-robot marriage. Vermont even permits robots to marry each other.

Californians who backed Proposition 52, the ballot initiative the voters passed in November, were incensed by the Supreme Court decision.  Hugh Mann, general counsel for Protect Human Marriage, the leading group behind the initiative, said he and his allies were “offended” by the decision.

“The Bible says that marriage is between a man and a woman—period,” Mann said. “And this decision denies voters the right to impose their own moral judgment and prejudice on the entire populous of the state.”
 
Human-robot marriage advocates gained backing for their arguments against Proposition 52 earlier this year after a CNN.com exposé showed the hypocrisy of the law, Luver said. That investigation, which could have forced the Supreme Court to nullify thousands of marriages, revealed that most of the housewives in Orange County were actually androids passing as botox-saturated women.