By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
A federal appeals court has decided to overrule an activist judge in California who declared the voter- approved ban on same-sex marriage to be unconstitutional and would have allowed same-sex marriages to resume tomorrow.
The Associated Press is reporting that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals imposed an emergency stay on a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker to allow county clerks to begin issuing marriage licenses in the state effective tomorrow afternoon at 5:00 p.m.
Walker’s decision was precipitated by his Aug. 4 ruling that Proposition 8, the voter approved ban on same-sex marriage, violated the equal protection and due process rights of gays and lesbians guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution.
Supporters of Proposition 8 immediately appealed Walker’s ruling and asked the 9th Circuit to block his plan to allow same-sex marriages to take place during the appeal process, claiming that these marriages would create legal chaos if the ban was eventually upheld as well as harm the state’s interest in promoting responsible procreation through heterosexual marriage.
“Invalidating the people’s vote based on just one judge’s opinion would not have been appropriate, and would have shaken the people’s confidence in our elections and the right to vote itself,” said Andy Pugno, general counsel for the coalition of groups that sponsored Proposition 8.
Opponents of Proposition 8 also applauded the decision, particularly the court’s promise to put the case on an expedited schedule.
“Today’s order from the 9th Circuit for an expedited hearing schedule ensures that we will triumph over Prop. 8 as quickly as possible,” said Chad Griffin, president of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, a group funding the effort to get the voter-approved gay marriage ban permanently overturned. “Our attorneys are ready to take this case all the way through the appeals court and to the United States Supreme Court.”
Lawyers who represented the two gay couples who are challenging the ban said they had no intention of appealing the panel’s decision and were satisfied with the court’s agreement to fast-track its consideration of the Proposition 8 case by scheduling oral arguments for the week of Dec. 6.
The case will be heard by a different three-judge panel than the one that issued Monday’s decision. According to the timetable laid out by the court yesterday, it is doubtful a decision will be made until sometime next year.
Regardless of the 9th Circuit’s decision, both sides have indicated their willingness to pursue the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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