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CA: The Prop 8 Case, A Primer

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012

The proponents of Proposition 8 have filed the necessary paperwork today asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to reconsider the three-judge panel’s decision on Feb. 7 in Perry v. Brown that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.

The lead attorney for the proponents of Proposition 8 told Metro Weekly earlier today that they would be filing such a motion. After the judges receiving a full briefing from the parties as to whether the matter should be reheard, all active circuit judges will vote as to whether an en banc rehearing should be held.

If a majority vote in the affirmative, the chief judge of the circuit, Alex Kozinski, and 10 other randomly selected circuit judges will hear the appeal.

Full Story from Metro Weekly

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Tags: appeal, california, lawsuit, marriage equality, primer, prop 8

CA: Supporters Ask for Full 9th Circuit Ruling on Prop 8 Case

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012

With Tuesday serving as the deadline for Prop. 8 proponents to request another appeal on the ruling that declared the voter initiative unconstitutional, proponents of California’s same-sex marriage ban say they’re seeking a full review by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Prop. 8 attorney Charles Cooper tellsMetroWeekly that he is seeking en banc review for the case — Prop. 8 was declared unconstitutional in 2010 by a federal judge, and a three judge appellate panel upheld that ruling two weeks ago.

Now, the group ProtectMarriage, behind the 2008 antigay initiative, are seeking more of the Ninth Circuit to review the case. A majority of the approximately 20 Ninth Circuit judges have to approve an en banc review. Because the Ninth Circuit is a large circuit, they could approve a partial en banc, which would allow 11 judges to rule on the constitutionality of Prop. 8.

Full Story from The Advocate

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Tags: 9th circuit, appeal, california, en-banc, Gay Marriage, marriage equality, proo 8

CA: Last Day for Appeal to Full 9th Circuit for Prop 8 Proponents

Tuesday, February 21st, 2012

Tomorrow, February 21, marks a big deadline in the Prop 8 case that those of us who have been counting the days since the 9th Circuit’s decision have been eagerly anticipating: the last day that the proponents of Prop 8 can file a petition for rehearing with the 9th Circuit. The proponents have 14 days from the initial decision to do so, meaning that if they do not request an en banc review of the February 7 decision with a larger panel of the appeals court, the 3-judge panel’s ruling will be the last word at this level of appeal.

At this point, there’s no reason to speculate whether or not the proponents will actually file for a rehearing tomorrow, as they may be waiting until the last moment to do so. One question that is probably on many minds though is what happens to the stay depending on the proponents’ actions tomorrow.

In its ruling on February 7, the 9th Circuit wrote that the mandate (that is, the official notice of the decision) will not go into effect until 7 days after the deadline for a rehearing petition expires, or 7 days after a rehearing is denied. What that means is that the 9th Circuit’s stay on Judge Walker’s ruling striking down Proposition 8 will be lifted 7 days after tomorrow’s deadline (February 28), should the proponents choose not to file for rehearing. If the proponents do file for a rehearing, the stay is automatically extended until that rehearing is either denied or it is accepted and then ruled on, both of which could take some time.

Full Story from the Prop 8 Trial Tracker

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Tags: appeal, en-banc review, marriage equality, ninth circuit, prop 8

How Will the Prop 8 Case Play Out?

Sunday, February 12th, 2012

Three years and three months have now passed since California voters amended their state constitution with Proposition 8, banning same-sex marriage throughout the state. The first legal challenge began the next day, and others followed — first in state court, then in federal court. Many who have been following the case have assumed, perhaps from the beginning, that the controversy would ultimately reach the Supreme Court. After the ballot measure was struck down this month by the Ninth Circuit Court, a California newspaper, the Orange County Register, asked: “Next stop: the Supreme Court?” Maybe not, or, at least, maybe not for a while.

The Ninth Circuit Court has a system (in some ways peculiar to that court) allowing other judges potentially to second-guess a three-judge panel’s decision like this one, and the system does not really depend upon what the lawyers involved ask. The Court can go en banc on its own, in a limited form, and then it can go en banc once again, in a broader form. It might do so in reaction to a request from some of the lawyers involved, or it might do so on its own without waiting for a request. Either way, it could take a considerable amount of time before there is something final to take to the Supreme Court in Washington.

Those who sponsored Proposition 8, and got it approved with a 52.3 percent majority vote among California voters on November 4, 2008, have said they are studying their options, but they definitely have already committed themselves to challenging the three-judge panel ruling at some higher level. There have been some hints, among some in that camp, that they would rather go on to the Supreme Court now, and bypass further review in the Ninth Circuit.

Full Story from Scotusblog

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Tags: appeal, ninth circuit, prop 8, supreme court

CA: Prop 8 Supporters Plan Next Move

Thursday, February 9th, 2012

Anti-gay-marriage forces were charting their next move this week after a three-judge federal appeals court panel ruled that Proposition 8, the 2008 California ballot measure banning same-sex unions, is unconstitutional.

ProtectMarriage, the Christian conservative sponsor of Prop. 8, is expected to announce next week whether to ask a larger panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider Tuesday’s ruling, a decision that could postpone U.S. Supreme Court review for months.

Andy Pugno, general counsel for ProtectMarriage, noted that a judge on the 9th Circuit might independently call for fellow jurists to vote on whether to review the ruling. Whether such a vote would gain majority support remained doubtful, law professors said.

Full Story from The Los Angeles Times

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Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Response »
Tags: appeal, ninth circuit, opponents, prop 8

Marriage Equality Advocates Expect Quick Victory in Prop 8 Lawsuit Appeal

Thursday, November 17th, 2011

Backers of same-sex marriage predicted they would end up victorious despite a California Supreme Court decision Thursday that the sponsors of Proposition 8 and other ballot measures are entitled to defend them in court.

“While a disappointing ruling, this case is now back in federal court, where we expect a quick victory,” Lambda Legal’s Jon Davidson. “The ruling addresses only a procedural legal question. The key question underlying this case is whether the U.S. Constitution permits a state electorate to treat one group of people unequally to everyone else by depriving them of what the state’s high court has held to be a fundamental right.

A federal court has already ruled that it may not. We look forward to seeing that decision upheld so that same-sex couples in California may once again enjoy the freedom to marry.

Full Story from The Los Angeles Times

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Tags: appeal, Gay Marriage, lawsuit, marriage equality, prop 8

AZ: Governor Brewer Appeals Court Decision, Wants to Throw Gays Off Health Care Plan

Thursday, September 29th, 2011

Two top state officials are asking the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to let Arizona deny benefits to the domestic partners of its gay state and university employees.

Legal papers filed by Attorney General Tom Horne contend a three-judge panel of the appellate court wrongfully concluded earlier this month that it is illegal for the state to provide health care and other benefits to the partners of married workers while refusing to do the same for same-sex couples. He said the state is allowed to make such distinctions.

Horne, who filed the appeal on behalf of Gov. Jan Brewer, also said it is legally irrelevant that Arizona voters constitutionally banned gays from getting married, even though that means they have no legal way to get benefits for their partners.

Full Story from the AZ Daily Star

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Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Response »
Tags: appeal, arizona, gay couples, governor jan brewer, health benefits

CA: Gay Couple Ask 9th Circuit to Hear Defense of Marriage Act Case

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

Just days after the Justice Department filed an appeal of a ruling declaring the federal ban on gay marriage unconstitutional, lawyers for a same-sex couple at the center of a bankruptcy dispute upped the ante by asking the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to take the case.

The Justice Department appealed the bankruptcy-court ruling Monday that declared the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional. Such appeals of bankruptcy-court decisions would be heard by the U.S. District Court.

But lawyers for the couple involved in the bankruptcy case are seeking to skip that step and go right to appeals court.

Full Story from the Wall Street Journal

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Tags: appeal, bankruptcy, defense of marriage act, gay couple

Department of Justice to Appeal DOMA Bankruptcy Ruling

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

In a surprising move, the United States Trustee for California — an agent representing the United States and the Department of Justice in Bankruptcy court — has appealed a ruling in the United States Bankruptcy Court of the Central District of California which found Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.

The June 15 ruling by U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge, Thomas Donovan, in the largest Bankruptcy Court in the country, found unconstitutional the 1996 law which bars Federal recognition of same-sex unions, even where such unions are legal. The ruling added yet another Federal court victory to a list of several such victories against the law. The ruling was in response to an intervention by the U.S. Trustee into a case in which a same-sex couple legally married in California in 2008 jointly filed for Bankruptcy.

Prior to the ruling, the U.S. Trustee had initially argued the Chapter 13 filing be thrown out, and that Gene Balas and Carlos Morales file separately as DOMA dictates. The Judge disagreed with the Justice Department, and decided to allow the couple to file jointly. The ruling was given even more weight when an unprecedented 19 of the other 23 judges at the court signed on to the decision.

Full Story from The Washington Blade

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Tags: appeal, bankruptcy, doj, doma, ruling

CA: Prop 8 Supporters Appeal Ruling on Gay Judge’s Impartiality

Monday, June 27th, 2011

Supporters of California’s gay marriage ban are appealing a ruling that a U.S. judge’s own gay relationship was no basis for tossing out his decision in support of same-sex marriage.

U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco last year struck down California’s same-sex marriage ban, known as Proposition 8. He later openly discussed his own gay relationship after retiring from the bench earlier this year.
Supporters of the ban now say his ruling was compromised and should be vacated. But Chief U.S. District Judge James Ware disagreed earlier this month, ruling that granting such a request would send a message that minority judges could not rule in civil rights cases.

Full Story from Reuters

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Tags: appeal, impartiality, Judge walker, prop 8