Proposition 8
Proposition 8: The Marriage Protectors Are Back In Court Again
By Peter Schrag
There was little surprise in last week’s attempt of the marriage protectors to get a larger appellate panel to review the three-judge Ninth Circuit of Appeals decision overturning California’s gay marriage ban. They said from day one they were going to do something. Some shoe had to fall.
But how they’re arguing for it raises some curious questions.
The Ninth Circuit ruling, handed down earlier this month, was as much as anything an attempt to circumscribe its scope and thus make it a less tempting target for the conservatives on the U.S. Supreme Court, who like nothing better than to stick it to the libs on the left coast. The leading Ninth Circuit lib is Judge Stephen Reinhardt, who wrote the Proposition 8 decision.
Why “Narrow” Prop 8 Decision is Good for Marriage Equality
By Paul Hogarth
Beyond Chron
On Tuesday, an ideologically diverse, three-judge panel on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Judge Walker’s decision overruling Proposition 8 – and the spin is it was decided on narrow, “only-in-California” grounds. But that’s not entirely true, and even in cases where it is marriage equality advocates should celebrate a tactical victory. Justice Stephen Reinhardt’s highly readable 80-page decision was clearly written with the U.S. Supreme Court in mind – and its heavy reliance on Romer v. Evans (1996) should be enough to get Anthony Kennedy’s vote.
Ninth Circuit Decision Keeps the Focus on California
By Shannon Minter, Esq., and Christopher Stoll, Esq.
National Center for Lesbian Rights
In a long-awaited decision, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that stripped the right to marry from same-sex couples in California, is unconstitutional. Judge Stephen R. Reinhardt authored the majority decision, which was joined by Judge Michael Daly Hawkins. The third judge, N. Randy Smith, dissented.
Oral Argument in Proposition 8 Appeal Sets the Stage for Ninth Circuit Ruling
By Shannon Minter, Esq., and Christopher Stoll, Esq.
National Center for Lesbian Rights
Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard oral arguments on two issues in Perry v. Brown, the federal court challenge to Proposition 8. In that case, two same-sex couples are challenging Prop 8, the 2008 ballot measure that stripped the right to marry from same-sex couples in California. Following a historic trial that took place in January 2010, now-retired Chief District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that Prop 8 is unconstitutional. That ruling has been on hold while the proponents of Prop 8 appeal Judge Walker’s ruling.
California Supreme Court Extends Unprecedented Power to Initiative Supporters in Proposition 8 Case
By Shannon Minter, Esq., and Christopher Stoll, Esq.
National Center for Lesbian Rights
The California Supreme Court issued a decision today that gives ballot initiative sponsors unprecedented new powers. The ruling held that California law empowers the sponsors of Proposition 8—the 2008 ballot initiative that stripped the right to marry from same-sex couples—to appeal the federal district court’s decision in Perry v. Brown finding Prop 8 unconstitutional, even though the state’s Attorney General and Governor both agree that the decision should not be appealed.
Omission of former Executive Director’s Name Raises Questions about EQCA Leadership Change
By Dan Aiello
Equality California, in issuing a press release late Wednesday noting the culmination of the organization’s legislative success in Sacramento this year, raised unintended questions from LGBT media by omitting the name of the non-profit’s former Executive Director, who was replaced just last month.
Within hours of the release of an EQCA press release on Wednesday touting the success of the organization’s legislative year, Karen Ocamb, one of the most read LGBT journalists nationwide, whose byline appears in publications like Frontiers magazine, Huffington Post and POV magazine among others, questioned the omission of the name of EQCA’s former Executive Directore, Geoff Kors, who is widely believed to be the primary architect of the legislative direction of the organization.
Kors was replaced as Executive Director of EQCA in July of this year. The new Executive Director is Roland Palencia.
CA Supreme Court Should Not Give Unprecedented Powers to Prop 8 Supporters
By Shannon Minter, Esq., and Christopher Stoll, Esq.
National Center for Lesbian Rights
Yesterday morning, the California Supreme Court heard arguments on an important issue of California law that may affect whether the sponsors of Proposition 8 can continue to pursue their federal court appeal in Perry v. Brown, the case challenging Prop 8 (read background on the case).
Will Supreme Court Blow Another Hole in the Initiative Process?
By Paul Hogarth
Yesterday, the California Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the federal Prop 8 case – after the Ninth Circuit punted to them the question as to whether private right-wing advocates who put Prop 8 on the ballot have standing, under the California Constitution, to appeal Judge Walker’s decision. Because Attorney General Kamala Harris has declined to appeal, it’s an open question as to whether Prop 8 proponents – who were allowed to intervene in the January 2010 federal trial – can now appeal to the Ninth Circuit. If they can’t, the trial decision will stand – and gay couples could finally marry in California.
Gay Marriage: Back in Court Again
By Peter Schrag
Before it’s all over, the battles over single sex marriage in California, now focused on Proposition 8, may enrich as many lawyers and take the time of as many judges as almost any legal issue in the state’s history.
Last week, the two sides fought it out before federal judge James Ware in San Francisco about release of videotapes of the trial last year that led to U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker’s sweeping ruling that Proposition 8 violates the equal protection guarantees of the U.S. constitution.
The original sponsors of Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban that voters passed in 2008, want to block the release of those tapes; the defenders of gay marriage, along with many media organizations, want them made available. In June, the Proposition 8 proponents also tried to have Walker’s decision overturned on the ground that he was gay and thus couldn’t be impartial. Ware quickly rejected that attempt.
California Supreme Court Hears Prop 8 Case
By Shannon Minter, Esq.
National Center for Lesbian Rights
On Tuesday, the California Supreme Court will hear arguments on an important question of California law that has arisen in Perry v. Brown, the ongoing federal challenge to Proposition 8, a 2008 ballot measure that stripped the ability to marry from same-sex couples in California.
The Court must decide whether California law allows the sponsors of Prop 8 to force an appeal in Perry v. Brown—even though the California Attorney General agrees that Prop 8 is unconstitutional. To understand why Tuesday’s hearing is significant, it is helpful to look back on the history of marriage equality in California.
- May 2008—The California Supreme Court ruled that California’s laws barring same-sex couples from marriage violated California’s Constitution. In the following months, more than 18,000 same-sex couples married in California.