Judge strikes circumcision ban from San Francisco ballot
A state Superior Court judge in California ruled that an initiative banning circumcision for minors be struck from San Francisco’s November ballot.
Loretta Giorgio, a judge in San Francisco County, with her final ruling on July 28 affirmed her tentative ruling from the previous day.
In the tentative ruling, the Bay Area newspaper j. reported, Giorgio agreed with the plaintiff that the proposed ballot initiative is “expressly pre-empted” by state law because the evidence overwhelming suggests that “circumcision is a widely practiced medical procedure.”
“Moreover,” she added, “it serves no legitimate purpose to allow a measure whose invalidity can be determined as a matter of law to remain on the ballot after such a ruling has been made.”
Michael Kinane, a lawyer for proponents of the circumcision ban, argued at the hearing that circumcision was not a medical procedure.
The initiative, if passed, would have made the practice of circumcision a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1000, or up to one year in jail, and offered no exemption for religious ritual.
“We appreciate Judge Giorgi’s careful review of the proposed measure, and her willingness to put a stop to this extreme, hurtful measure,” said Abby Michelson Porth, the associate director of the Jewish Community Relations Council — one of several plaintiffs in the suit — in an interview with the j.
“There is no place on the ballot for a measure that contradicts California law and would put doctors in jail for performing a procedure with known health benefits and a religious purpose. The court ruling is an affirmation of the values of parental choice and religious freedom.”
Other Jewish leaders added their praise of the ruling.
“Today’s ruling is a win for religious liberty, a win for American values and a win for all San Franciscans,” said Howie Beigelman, the director of state affairs for the Orthodox Union.
Daniel Mariaschin, the executive vice president for B’nai B’rith International, said “The ballot initiative would have directly impinged on Jews’ ability to carry out a basic pillar of our faith.”
Matthew Hess, the author of the bill, told JTA that proponents of the measure were working out the details of an appeal. He strongly rejected the notion that circumcision was a medical procedure.
“And the measure didn’t target one specific religion — it targeted all forced circumcisions of male minors,” Hess said. “We feel that we have a strong case for an appeal.”
Jews and Muslims circumcise males as part of their faith.
Beigelman said in his statement, “Heartened as we are by polls suggesting this measure will be resoundingly defeated at the ballot box if it ever gets there, we hope that courts taking up this appeal will affirm this ruling so that it never does.”
The anti-circumcision movement, after gathering 12,000 signatures in May to put the law on the ballot, has hit rocky waters of late. The discovery that Hess also was the author of a comic book that traded in what the Anti-Defamation League described as “grotesque anti-Semitic imagery and themes” led to the withdrawal of a similar initiative in Santa Monica, in Southern California.
JTA
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