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Xeogaming Forums - General Chat - Federal Judge Walker Rules California's Proposition 8 Unconstitutional
  
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Rogue
Posts: 6026/11918
Originally posted by Elara
However, his record still upholds his impartiality since his original nomination under Reagan was defeated by House Democrates because his history showed him to be insensitive to gays and the poor. Irony.

But isn't it just delicious that he was brought in by Bush (Sr)?

All right, Republicans. You win.


Squire Vince
Posts: 341/1586		 One more foothold on the path to tolerance! A huge leap, we're going places.
Elara
Posts: 5858/9736		 The only thing that might really hurt the decision is that Walker is openly gay. However, his record still upholds his impartiality since his original nomination under Reagan was defeated by House Democrates because his history showed him to be insensitive to gays and the poor. Irony.
Rogue
Posts: 6021/11918		 You gotta love that the federal judge was Republican.

Anyway...
Schwarzenegger calls gay marriage ruling a victory

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger praised a federal judge's decision Wednesday to overturn California's gay marriage ban as an important step toward equality and freedom for all people.

The Republican governor said the ruling by U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker "affirms the full legal protections and safeguards I believe everyone deserves."

"At the same time, it provides an opportunity for all Californians to consider our history of leading the way to the future, and our growing reputation of treating all people and their relationships with equal respect and dignity," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

California voters amended the state constitution to ban gay marriage in 2008, five months after the state Supreme Court legalized it.

Schwarzenegger was one of the original defendants, but he refused to support Proposition 8 in court.

The governor previously vetoed two gay marriage bills, in 2005 and 2007, both by then-Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco. Schwarzenegger said both times that while he supported and would "vigorously defend" domestic partnerships, the constitutionality of same-sex marriage was a matter to be decided by the courts and, if necessary, California voters.

"If the ban of same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, this bill is not necessary," he wrote in his 2005 veto message. "If the ban is constitutional, this bill is ineffective."

On Wednesday, Schwarzenegger acknowledged there are strong feelings on both sides of the gay marriage issue and that Walker's ruling would not change that.

Supporters of Proposition 8 previously said they would appeal, sending the case first to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, then potentially the U.S. Supreme Court.


SOURCE: The Associated Press, c/o SF Gate
Phoenixocracy
Posts: 1124/2746
Originally posted by Rogue





I feel a bit better about our country now. We are one state closer to not being a large jerk.
Rogue
Posts: 6013/11918		 So was I, my friend.

EDIT:

Elara
Posts: 5857/9736		 I was honestly surprised I beat you to posting this.
Rogue
Posts: 6012/11918		 Supposedly they can't just run out and get married right now, but hot damn. I've been jumping up and down for the last few minutes.

This is one awesome step in the right direction.
Elara
Posts: 5856/9736		 Huzzah!

LA Times Blog

A federal judge in San Francisco decided today that gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry, striking down Proposition 8, the voter approved ballot measure that banned same-sex unions.

U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker said Proposition 8, passed by voters in November 2008, violated the federal constitutional rights of gays and lesbians to marry the partners of their choice. His ruling is expected to be appealed to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and then up to the U.S. Supreme Court.

[Updated at 1:54 p.m.: "Plaintiffs challenge Proposition 8 under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment," the judge wrote. "Each challenge is independently meritorious, as Proposition 8 both unconstitutionally burdens the exercise of the fundamental right to marry and creates an irrational classification on the basis of sexual orientation."

Vaughn added: "Plaintiffs seek to have the state recognize their committed relationships, and plaintiffs’ relationships are consistent with the core of the history, tradition and practice of marriage in the United States.“

Ultimately, the judge concluded that Proposition 8 "fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples. … Because Proposition 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis, the court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.”]

Walker, an appointee of President George H.W. Bush, heard 16 witnesses summoned by opponents of Proposition 8 and two called by proponents during a 2½-week trial in January.

Walker’s historic ruling in Perry vs. Schwarzenegger relied heavily on the testimony he heard at trial. His ruling listed both factual findings and his conclusions about the law.

Voters approved the ban by a 52.3% margin six months after the California Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage was permitted under the state Constitution.

The state high court later upheld Proposition 8 as a valid amendment to the state Constitution.

An estimated 18,000 same-sex couples married in California during the months that it was legal, and the state continues to recognize those marriages.

The federal challenge was filed on behalf of a gay couple in Southern California and a lesbian couple in Berkeley. They are being represented by former Solicitor General Ted Olson, a conservative, and noted litigator David Boies, who squared off against Olson in Bush vs. Gore.

A Los Angeles-based group formed to fight Proposition 8 has been financing the litigation.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown refused to defend Proposition 8, prodding the sponsors of the initiative to hire a legal team experienced in U.S. Supreme Court litigation.

Backers of Proposition 8 contended that the legal burden was on the challengers to prove there was no rational justification for voting for the measure. They cited as rational a view that children fare best with both a father and a mother.

But defense witnesses conceded in cross-examination that studies show children reared from birth by same-sex couples fared as well as those born to opposite-sex parents and that marriage would benefit the families of gays and lesbians.

-- Maura Dolan in San Francisco
Xeogaming Forums - General Chat - Federal Judge Walker Rules California's Proposition 8 Unconstitutional



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