Jerry Brown

California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown once again refused to defend Proposition 8's ban on same-sex marriage Friday, telling a federal judge that it violated the U.S. Constitution and should be struck down. Brown made his arguments in response to a federal lawsuit against the state by two gay couples who contend the initiative violates federal due process and equal protection guarantees.

In the latest skirmish over Proposition 8, the state's ethics agency and Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown filed briefs in federal court this week challenging an attempt to change campaign finance disclosure laws. Supporters of the November ballot measure that banned gay marriage went to court earlier this month seeking to throw out a decades-old state law that requires the names and personal information of campaign contributors be made public.

Houston I. Flournoy, a Republican who narrowly lost to Jerry Brown in the 1974 California gubernatorial election, has died. He was 78. Flournoy died Monday of heart failure while flying on a private plane from San Diego to Santa Rosa, said his son, David Flournoy. The elder Flournoy had suffered from emphysema. Before running for governor, Flournoy served three two-year terms in the state Assembly starting in 1960.

California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown spoke at the state Democratic Party convention Saturday, and boy, did he sound an awful lot like a candidate for Golden State governor -- again. Eerie. Brown, who served two terms as governor from 1975 to 1983 before term limits took effect, reminded his Democratic audience assembled in San Jose of some of his "highlights," like getting rid of former Gov. Ronald Reagan's bulletproof limousine and using a blue Plymouth from the state motor pool.

Supporters of Proposition 8, the proposed state constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage, said they would file suit today to block a change made by California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown to the language of the measure's ballot title and summary. Petitions circulated to qualify the initiative for the ballot said the measure would amend the state Constitution "to provide that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."

As more lawsuits against Proposition 8 landed before the California Supreme Court, Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown and the anti-gay-marriage campaign urged the court Monday to review the suits but allow the measure to remain in effect during that review.

Among the many legal opinions on Proposition 8 that the California Supreme Court will consider, the most high-profile one will come from Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown. By Friday, Brown is supposed to deliver his legal brief on whether the initiative banning same-sex marriage is an amendment to the state Constitution or, as opponents claim, a fundamental revision of it, which would require far more than a simple majority vote to take effect.

Nearly a quarter-century since his last go-round, Jerry Brown returned to statewide office Monday, still rippling at age 68 with the restless zeal that marked his colorful 1970s tenure as California's indefatigable "Gov. Moonbeam." The old gubernatorial Plymouth and floor mattress in a rental apartment are long gone, but Brown took the oath of office as attorney general with a few quirks up his sleeve.

In his first major action as California attorney general, Jerry Brown signaled to the nation's Big Six automakers Thursday that he would like to reach a compromise in a high-stakes legal battle over how to curb global warming. But Brown left no doubt that he would press a lawsuit by the state against the companies if they failed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from car tailpipes.

California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown is free to continue working in his new job, even though he was technically an inactive member of the State Bar during the five-year period before he was elected, a judge ruled Friday. State law requires attorneys general to be active members of the bar for the five consecutive years before an election.