---

Posted: 12/9/10

Oral arguments were heard by the Ninth Circuit court of appeals this past Monday Dec, 6, 2010.  The arguments lasted 2 hours with the first hour discussing whether the defenders of prop. 8 have legal standing to do so and the second argument is an appeal of Judge Walker's decision that voided prop. 8, the constitutional amendment limiting marriage to one man and one woman.

The court was made up of 3 judges chosen at random.  Of the three, one is considered hyper liberal, one is somewhat liberal and another is somewhat conservative.  

At stake is whether the attorney general and governor can de facto veto a constitutional amendment by abandoning their job requirement to defend the state law, whether people are allowed to vote their conscience, whether constitutional amendments in the other states that the Ninth Circuit presides over will remain in effect, whether Christians will be legally persecuted for believing that homosexuality is wrong.

Possible outcomes include:

• upholding prop. 8, which means that prop. 8 was not created out of animus and that the governor and attorney general do not have the right to de facto veto a constitutional amendment.
  
• That people do have the right to vote their conscience.
  
• Prop. 8 could be overturned based on the notion that there is no one to defend the law.
  
• Overturned on the principle of animus, which would affect the state
  
• Overturned based on the 14th amendment, which would affect all of the similar constitutional amendments currently in place in the region that the ninth circuit presides over.

Appeals process.  The case may be appealed to the ninth circuit as a whole or it could go directly to the U.S. Supreme court.  Based on prior speed with which this case has been heard it is likely that the case will be decided quickly.  

I'd give it 2 or 3 months for a decision to be rendered in this case.

There are many links on this case, but finding revealing ones has been rather difficult, which is why this news item is a bit late.

Helpful link:
Leonard Link analysis of the prop. 8 trial in circuit court


Last Updated: 5/1/11

TAGS: activist judges, california, marriage, prop.8