Judge walker

...now browsing by tag

Written Arguments Submitted in Prop 8 Case Over Judge’s Orientation

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011

A federal judge’s failure to disclose whether he intended to marry his long-term, same-sex partner before presiding over the Proposition 8 case amounts to misconduct that requires the removal of his ruling against the 2008 ballot measure, lawyers opposed to gay marriage told a federal appeals court.

In written arguments to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, both sides in the gay marriage legal dispute debated whether the sexual orientation of retired Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker might have affected the case.

The 9th Circuit, considering the arguments filed over the last few weeks, has put Walker’s ruling on hold pending a decision on whether to uphold or overturn it.

Full Story from The Los Angeles Times

Click here for gay wedding resources in California.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook. We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Responses »
Tags: Judge walker, orientation, prop 8, trial

Prop 8 Supporters Go After Judge Walker’s Sexuality Again in New Brief

Wednesday, October 5th, 2011

They keep losing, but the backers of Proposition 8 just appeal, appeal, appeal. Once again, they are demanding that Judge Walker’s ruling be overturned because his gayness and long-term relationship constituted an inherent conflict of interest.

The sponsors of California’s voter-approved same-sex marriage ban have asked a federal court to invalidate the ruling of the federal judge who struck it down, saying the judge should be disqualified because he did not divulge he was in a long-term relationship with another man.

Lawyers for the Proposition 8′s backers filed their open brief on the issue late Monday with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

Full Story from Joe.My.God

Click here for gay wedding resources in California.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Responses »
Tags: Judge walker, legal brief, prop 8

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

Click here for gay marriage resources in California.

To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Responses »
Tags: appeal, impartiality, Judge walker, prop 8

CA: Prop 8 Proponents to Appeal Ruling on Judge Walker

Wednesday, June 15th, 2011

There is little to add, beyond what has been reported here and throughout the blogosphere. But, there is one thing that many of us have missed.

Much to the amazement of the gay media, Charles Cooper, the lead attorney for the Prop 8 proponents, vowed to appeal Judge Ware’s decision throwing out Mr. Cooper’s frivolous, dangerous and hateful motion to dismiss. Mr. Cooper stated that his “legal team will appeal this decision and continue [its] tireless efforts to defend the will of the people of California to preserve marriage as the union of a man and a woman.”

Appeal such a wholehearted beat down? Does he think he will get any more sympathy from a panel of Ninth Circuit judges who have known Judge Walker for years and have, in any event, already invested their court’s own time and effort into this case?

Full Story from Towleroad.com

Click here for gay marriage resources in California.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Responses »
Tags: appeal, gay, Judge walker, proposition 8

CA: Gay Groups File Brief in Defense of Judge Walker’s Impartiality

Friday, May 13th, 2011

A coalition of LGBT advocacy groups has filed a brief urging the U.S. District Court not to vacate last year ruling by Judge Vaughn Walker overturning Proposition 8.

Writes Lambda Legal in a press release:

Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the ACLU of Northern California and Equality California filed the friend-of-the-court brief in Perry v. Brown in response to a motion filed last month by supporters of Proposition 8 that asked the court to undo last year’s decision in that case. The Prop 8 supporters contend that now-retired Chief Judge Vaughn Walker should have declined to hear the case because he was in a long-term relationship with another man, and that the judge’s 135-page decision, which followed a three-week trial, should be invalidated for that reason.

Full Story from Towleroad.com

Click here for gay marriage resources in California.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Responses »
Tags: Judge walker, legal brief, prop 8

CA: Jerry Brown Says Prop 8 Proponents Conducting Witch Hunt

Friday, May 13th, 2011

California Governor Jerry Brown has accused Proposition 8 supporters of conducting a “witch hunt” against U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, who last year struck down the gay marriage ban as unconstitutional, the AP reported.

Walker’s ruling came after he presided over a 13-day trail in San Francisco.

Last month – three months into his retirement from the bench – Walker acknowledged that he’s gay and in a ten-year relationship with a physician, confirming for the first time a San Francisco Chronicle report published in February.

Full Story from On Top Magazine

Click here for gay marriage resources in California.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Responses »
Tags: jerry brown, Judge walker, proposition 8

New York Times: Walker Fit to Rule on Prop 8

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011

Given ample chance during a 13-day trial to offer an argument apart from prejudice, proponents of Proposition 8, the prohibition against same-sex marriage in California, found no evidence. Now they are trying to disqualify Vaughn Walker, the now-retired Federal District Court judge who ruled that the measure was unconstitutional.

After the trial, Judge Walker said he is gay and involved in a long-term relationship. Last week, Proposition 8′s lawyers argued that the ruling should be tossed out because he had had a duty to recuse himself, or at least disclose the relationship at the start of the case.

The claim is bogus. It is well established that personal characteristics, like race, sex, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation, do not by themselves invoke the rule that judges must step aside if their “impartiality might reasonably be questioned.”

Full Story From the New York Times

Click here for gay marriage resources in California.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Responses »
Tags: Judge walker, proposition 8, qualified

Judge Walker to Be Back in Court on Prop 8 Case

Monday, May 2nd, 2011

The new Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco has asked former Chief Judge Vaughn Walker to come back to court.

In an April 28 order, Judge James Ware instructed Walker to appear in court to answer why he should not be required to return to the court videotapes he made of the Proposition 8 trial proceedings last year.

But there will be another matter on the agenda at the June 13 hearing: a motion from Yes on 8 Proponents asking Ware to vacate Walker’s decision last August that the same-sex marriage ban violates the federal constitution.

Full Story from LGBTQ Nation

Click here for gay marriage resources in California.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Responses »
Tags: Judge walker, prop 8

CA: Judge Walker on Those Prop 8 Trial Tapes

Saturday, April 16th, 2011

Yesterday, Andy noted that Judge Vaughn Walker has responded to marriage equality opponents who have demanded that he return videotapes of the Perry v. Schwarzenegger Prop 8 trial that he has in his possession. In a letter to Molly Dwyer, Clerk of the Ninth Circuit Appeals Court, Judge Walker explained how he used and intends to use those video clips during his lectures.

Meanwhile, Prop 8 lawyers Theodore Olson and David Boies filed a motion yesterday to make all of the trial videotapes available to the public.

Walker’s letter to Dwyer in its entirety: This responds to a motion filed on April 13, 2011, by appellants-defendant-intervenors in Perry v Schwarzenegger, No 10-16696. It should be presented to the panel considering the motion.

Full Story from Towleroad.com

Click here for gay marriage resources in California.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Responses »
Tags: Judge walker, proposition 8, videotapes

Judge Walker to Rule on Gay Marriage Stay Thursday by Noon

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

The federal judge who overturned California’s same-sex marriage ban says he is ready to rule on whether gay marriages should resume immediately in the state or await an appeals court’s input.

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker said he would issue his decision Thursday by noon on requests to impose a stay that would keep Proposition 8 in effect while its sponsors appeal his decision.

California voters passed the ban in November 2008, five months after the state Supreme Court legalized gay marriage.

Full Story from SFGate

Click here for gay marriage resources in California.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Responses »
Tags: Gay Marriage, Judge walker, marriage equality, ruling, same sex marriage, stay