Judge Vaughn Walker Has Decided on California Gay Marriage Ban

Posted by Greg Laden on August 4, 2010
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Federal Judge Vaughn Walker has decided to uphold … or overturn … California’s highly controversial and uncivilized Propositoi 8, which bans marriage between two people who fail to meet arbitrary gender-based criteria specified in the proposition.

Some call this the first test of the constitutionality of the law, but that is, of course, absurd. The law is unconstitutional. The test today is whether or not Judge Vaughn Walker is any good at what he does.

This decision ….

comes in response to a lawsuit brought by two same-sex couples and the city of San Francisco seeking to invalidate the law as an unlawful infringement on the civil rights of gay men and lesbians.
…

Attorneys on both sides have said an appeal was certain if Walker did not rule in their favor. The case would go first to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals then the Supreme Court if the high court justices agree to review it.

NYT

So … now we play the old waiting game…

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Comments

  1. #1 daedalus2u
    August 4, 2010

    What if the Judge upholds the ban, but requires California to compensate each person who had their marriage taken by the state (Amendment V, “…nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”)

    A couple million per person would not be inappropriate.

    He could require the proponents of the law to post a bond for $2 million per person affected before any ban (even temporary) could take effect. Then if the ban is declared not constitutional, then those individuals deprived of marital consortium during the temporary ban could be compensated.

  2. #2 Aratina Cage
    August 4, 2010

    Just a few more hours… *biting fingernails nervously*

  3. #3 chris
    August 4, 2010

    Good news, it appears.