In a highly anticipated decision with potentially far-reaching implications in the national battle over gay marriage, a federal judge has struck down California’s Proposition 8.
U.S. district judge Vaughn R. Walker struck down the ballot measure in a 136-page opinion without a hearing in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, nearly seven months after an unprecedented trial over gay marriage began in his San Francisco courtroom. It’s not yet clear whether Walker’s decision will immediately nullify the ballot measure — and therefore restore the right of same-sex couples to marry in California.
But:
Anti-gay-marriage forces, perhaps already sensing defeat at the district level, had filed a motion on Tuesday to stay the ruling pending appeal to the U.S. court of appeals for the ninth circuit — a rare premature maneuver, legal experts said.
“Absent a stay, same-sex marriages could begin taking place immediately after the Court issues its judgment,” attorney Charles J. Cooper wrote in a letter to Walker. “As we explain in our stay motion, another purported window of same-sex marriage in California would cause irreparable harm.”
“Plaintiffs challenge Proposition 8 under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment,” the judge wrote. “Each challenge is independently meritorious, as Proposition 8 both unconstitutionally burdens the exercise of the fundamental right to marry and creates an irrational classification on the basis of sexual orientation.”
Vaughn added: “Plaintiffs seek to have the state recognize their committed relationships, and plaintiffs’ relationships are consistent with the core of the history, tradition and practice of marriage in the United States.“
Ultimately, the judge concluded that Proposition 8 “fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples. … Because Proposition 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis, the court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.”
On MSNBC, Pete Williams says that it appears the judge will allow marriages to resume, which means that anti-gay activists will have to seek a stay in another court.
“Progress”
Yep. Real progress toward ensuring that the civil rights enshrined in the Constitution extend to ALL citizens. The Constitution was not designed to allow one group of citizens to decide what other groups can/cannot do.