State Senator Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber) today issued the following statement in response to the United States Supreme Court ruling on Proposition 8 (Hollingsworth v. Perry):

“I’m very disappointed by the Court’s decision; the people’s vote was ignored.

“Proposition 8 was passed by the voters of California. But the political elite, who did not agree with the election results, refused to defend the people’s vote. This is about elected officials at the highest levels of government and their refusal to defend the will of the majority of the people of the state of California whom they serve.

“This decision clearly undermines the initiative process – a powerful constitutional tool for the people of this great state to determine public policy.

“It calls into question the very nature of the people’s right to bypass the political system and directly assert their will using the democratic process.”