• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Republicans
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Men
  • Trans Rights
  • Royals
  • Monkeypox
  • Is Trump kissing Fauci? With apparently fake photos, DeSantis raises AI ante
  • US Supreme Court backs Alabama Black voters, bolsters civil rights law
  • Pat Robertson, who made Christian right a political force, dead at 93

Prop 8 Backers File Court Brief Arguing ‘Standing’ to Appeal, Attack Judge Walker as ‘Selective and One-Sided’

Andy Towle September 18, 2010

Defendant-intervenors filed briefs with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals last night at 9 pm, three hours before the court's deadline, attacking Judge Vaughn Walker and his ruling overturning Prop 8, the AP reports:

Walker In written arguments to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, lawyers for the ban's sponsors alleged that Chief U.S. Judge Vaughn Walker "quite willfully" disregarded a 1972 U.S. Supreme Court precedent and other relevant information when he decided the voter-approved measure was an unconstitutional violation of gay Californians' civil rights.

"The district court based its findings almost exclusively on an uncritical acceptance of the evidence submitted by Plaintiffs' experts, and simply ignored virtually everything — judicial authority, the works of eminent scholars past and present in all relevant academic fields, extensive historical and documentary evidence — that ran counter to its conclusions," they wrote in their 134-page opening brief.

They also called Walker's ruling "defamatory":

The appealing attorneys, who called two witnesses compared to 18 for the plaintiffs, asked the 9th Circuit to ignore the trial testimony on which Walker laboriously based his opinion, calling it "unreliable and ultimately irrelevant" to whether Proposition 8 passes constitutional muster.

"Having blinded itself to the genuine animating purpose of marriage, the district court was obliged to offer a different rationale for the institution, presumably one that is entirely indifferent to the gender of the spouses," they wrote.

They also characterized as defamatory the judge's conclusion that "moral disapproval" of gay men and lesbians was the main reason voters passed Proposition 8 in November 2008.

The L.A. Times reports that Prop 8 sponsors also argued that unless backers of the measure, like California's Imperial County which has been trying to argue its standing to appeal, are not allowed to appeal, then the judge's ruling overturning Prop 8 should apply only to the two couples named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit:

"If the 9th Circuit decides that neither the sponsors nor Imperial County have standing, Walker's decision should affect only the couples who sued because the lawsuit was not brought on behalf of all gay couples in the state, protectmarriage.com argued. If the ruling were limited, only the two couples could marry. Other same-sex couples in California would continue to be barred from marrying."

Karen Ocamb at LGBT goes through the document, noting that Prop 8 backers cite procreation as the distinguishing characteristic of heterosexual relations:

“Nowhere in its 136-page opinion does the district court even cite any of the evidence overwhelmingly acknowledging responsible procreation and child-rearing as the animating purpose of marriage. All of the evidence – the judicial authority from California and almost every other State, the works of eminent scholars from all relevant academic fields, the extensive historical evidence – is simply ignored. And the district court ignored it quite willfully; in the court’s view, apparently only oral testimony presented at trial constituted “evidence” on the issue (and its treatment of even this evidence was egregiously selective and one-sided….).”

Said Chad Griffin, Board President of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, in a statement: "Regardless of the defendant-intervenors' protests, the fact remains that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional, as was proven conclusively and unequivocally through a full federal trial. There is no getting around the fact that the court's decision was based on our nation's most fundamental principles, and that the Constitution does not permit unequal treatment under the law. We are eager to proceed with affirming the unconstitutionality of Prop. 8, and the equality of all Americans, in the Ninth Circuit and the Supreme Court."

Plaintiffs are scheduled to file briefs next month, with oral arguments the first week of December.

Read the brief here:

CA9Doc 21

Topics: News, Supreme Court More Posts About: Chad Griffin, Federal Prop 8 Trial, gay marriage, News, proposition 8, Vaughn Walker

Related Posts
  • Former Roommate Indicted For Murder Of Florida LGBTQ Activist Jorge Diaz-Johnston, One of the Public Faces In State Fight For Marriage Equality
  • Russia Blocks Facebook, Accusing it of Restricting Access to Russian Media;
  • Survivor Benefits Payments For Same-Sex Partners Are Being Paid Under Biden, But Many Don’t Even Know They Qualify
  • US Supreme Court backs Alabama Black voters, bolsters civil rights law

    US Supreme Court backs Alabama Black voters, bolsters civil rights law

    Published by Reuters By John Kruzel WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday handed a major victory to Black voters who challenged a Republican-drawn electoral map in Alabama, finding the state violated a landmark law …Read More »
  • Pat Robertson, who made Christian right a political force, dead at 93

    Pat Robertson, who made Christian right a political force, dead at 93

    Published by AFP Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network, has died at the age of 93 Washington (AFP) – Pat Robertson, the soft-spoken televangelist who helped make America’s Christians a powerful political force while …Read More »
  • Uganda enacts repressive law putting LGBTQ+ communities at serious risk

    Uganda enacts repressive law putting LGBTQ+ communities at serious risk

    Published by Global Voices Image of LGBTQ community protest in Uganda, on the Africanews YouTube Channel. May 2023 was a watershed period for Uganda’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community. On May 2, the …Read More »
  • Biden names coordinator to work on book bans issue

    Biden names coordinator to work on book bans issue

    Published by AFP The graphic novel Washington (AFP) – US President Joe Biden has named a government coordinator to handle the thorny issue of book bans in schools — one of a series of initiatives announced …Read More »
Previous Post: « German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle Ties Knot with Partner Michael Mronz in Civil Partnership
Next Post: Watch: Teabaggers, Palin, O’Donnell Animated by Taiwan News »

Primary Sidebar

Adjacent News

  • 2 groups cancel Orlando conventions as worries over political climate grow

    2 groups cancel Orlando conventions as worries over political climate grow

  • Danny Westneat: We’re going back in time on LGBTQ+ equality

    Danny Westneat: We’re going back in time on LGBTQ+ equality

  • South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem Says America ‘Can't Shop at Target Anymore' Because the Store is 'Fundamentally Tearing Down This Country' After 'Tuck-friendly' Swimwear Debacle

    South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem Says America ‘Can't Shop at Target Anymore' Because the Store is 'Fundamentally Tearing Down This Country' After 'Tuck-friendly' Swimwear Debacle

Good Trash: Going to Read It Somewhere, Y'know

  • Justin Bieber’s Dad Faces Backlash Over Anti-Pride Post After Telling LGBTQ Community to ‘Thank a Straight Person’ for Their ‘Existence’

    Justin Bieber’s Dad Faces Backlash Over Anti-Pride Post After Telling LGBTQ Community to ‘Thank a Straight Person’ for Their ‘Existence’

  • Former CNN anchor Don Lemon lands new hosting gig – but not on TV

    Former CNN anchor Don Lemon lands new hosting gig – but not on TV

  • Elliot Page Shockingly Admits He had Secret Relationship With Kate Mara While She was Dating Max Minghelia

    Elliot Page Shockingly Admits He had Secret Relationship With Kate Mara While She was Dating Max Minghelia

Partner Links

  • Morning Round-Up: Rock Hudson; Sam Smith and Madonna; Janelle Monae; Elliot Page & more!
  • Lorna Luft, Kevin Spirtas & Jojo Siwa honored at opening of “Real to Reel: Portrayals & Perceptions of LGBTQ+ in Hollywood”
  • 54 Candles
  • The Magic A.I. Genie
  • Rosie reacts to second Trump indictment

Most Recent

  • Is Trump kissing Fauci? With apparently fake photos, DeSantis raises AI ante

    Is Trump kissing Fauci? With apparently fake photos, DeSantis raises AI ante

  • US Supreme Court backs Alabama Black voters, bolsters civil rights law

    US Supreme Court backs Alabama Black voters, bolsters civil rights law

  • Pat Robertson, who made Christian right a political force, dead at 93

    Pat Robertson, who made Christian right a political force, dead at 93

  • Uganda enacts repressive law putting LGBTQ+ communities at serious risk

    Uganda enacts repressive law putting LGBTQ+ communities at serious risk

  • Biden names coordinator to work on book bans issue

    Biden names coordinator to work on book bans issue

  • Biden rails against ‘prejudiced,’ ‘unjustified’ attacks on LGTBQ+ Americans

    Biden rails against ‘prejudiced,’ ‘unjustified’ attacks on LGTBQ+ Americans

  • 40 Moments From the Original ‘Sex and the City’ Series That Live Rent-Free in Our Heads

    40 Moments From the Original ‘Sex and the City’ Series That Live Rent-Free in Our Heads

  • Janelle Monae admits she’s always craved her mum’s approval: ‘It’s everything!’

    Janelle Monae admits she’s always craved her mum’s approval: ‘It’s everything!’

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd

Footer

Copyright © 2023 · Log in

×