California State Capital Building
Republicans in the state Assembly have penned a letter urging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to appeal the recent ruling overturning California’s ban on gay marriage, says the Sacramento Bee newspaper.
The 27 Republican legislators who signed a letter to Gov. Schwarzenegger argued that by staying out of the case, Schwarzenegger and Brown will set a precedent that officials “may pick and choose the laws which they will and will not enforce and defend.”
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Brewer signing in anti-immigration law. Hate to say it but some good might come out of Arizona's bigotry just the same.
This could be some hardcore poetic justice about to unfold:
In March of 1997, the Supreme Court set aside a Federal appeals court’s decision that Arizona could not require state employees to speak only English on the job,(Arizonans for Official English v. Arizona, No. 95-974) ordering a state employee’s challenge to Arizona’s English-only constitutional amendment to be dismissed as moot because the worker resigned seven years ago.
According to the New York Times (NYT) the Justices did not take a view on the merits of what was one of the more closely watched cases on the Court’s docket. Instead, they ruled unanimously, in an opinion by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, that because the Spanish-speaking employee had left her state job before the appeals court’s 1994 ruling, the Federal courts lacked jurisdiction to consider her argument that the provision violated her First Amendment right to free speech.
Now here comes the fun part. It’s a segment of the NYT article written about the case in 1997:
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A federal judge today dismissed Missouri state legislation barring Fred Phelps and followers from demonstrating within 300 feet of private funeral services.
In a 19-page order, the laws, said the Kansas City-based judge Fernando Gaitan, “could have the effect of criminalizing speech the mourners want to hear, including speech from counter-protesters to plaintiffs’ [the Westboro Church's] message. As the law burdens substantially more speech than is necessary to further the government’s interest, [the law] violates the free speech clause of the First Amendment.
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From KTVU.com:
Same-sex weddings in California are on hold indefinitely after a federal appeals court blocked the unions Monday while it considers the constitutionality of the state’s gay marriage ban.
The decision, issued by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, trumps a lower court judge’s order that would have allowed county clerks to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Wednesday.
Chief U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker decided last week to allow gay marriages to go forward after ruling that the ban, known as Proposition 8, violated equal protection and due process rights of gays and lesbians guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution.
The Proposition 8 legal team quickly appealed Walker’s ruling in a case that many believe will end up before the Supreme Court.
Below is a PDF copy of Judge’s Decision:
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U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals gets ready for a close up.
U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has created a tidy new Web page for the Prop 8 case in response to the overwhelming demand for up to date information on the latest developments.
The page features a section for Filings and Case Documents of Special Interest as well as a sign-up link for email updates. Here’s the link:
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Putting STAY to the ultimate test.
What an emotional rollercoaster today has been. First, we get the news that Judge Walker has lifted the stay on same-sex marriages. But then—BAM—with a temporary hold until August 18. Why? So that the opposition can file an appeal to in hopes of lifting of the stay. Okay. Here’s what Walker said in the order:
“As it appears at least doubtful that proponents will be able to proceed with their appeal without a state defendant, it remains unclear whether the court of appeals will be able to reach the merits of proponents’ appeal,” Walker wrote. “In light of those concerns, proponents may have little choice but to attempt to convince either the Governor or the Attorney General to file an appeal to ensure appellate jurisdiction.”
According to Law.com, proponents of the ban on same-sex marriage had asked Walker to stay his Aug. 4 decision while they pursue an appeal. They’ll now almost immediately take their case for an emergency stay to the 9th Circuit, said appellate specialist Jon Eisenberg.
Law.com published the above statement in an article this morning. It’s now 9pm Thursday night. And sure enough, the Prop 8trs filed an emergency motion this afternoon.
Here is part of the summary of the argument. We’ve highlighted certain key passages to showcase the absolute arrogance and delusion of Prop 8 legal team in their argument to restore a ban on same-sex marriage. (Passage outline courtesy of the Legalinsurrection blog):
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