As they announced they would do in mid-June, Prop 8 proponents have filed papers appealing Judge James Ware's decision to reject the frivolous attempt to throw out the Prop 8 ruling over Judge Vaughn Walker's sexuality.
Prop 8 proponents filed a motion April to vacate the ruling overturning California's ban on same-sex marriage, saying that the judge's recent statements that he is gay mean he should have recused himself from the case, and give them grounds to appeal. It was rejected on June 14.
The SF Examiner reports:
Attorneys for Prop. 8 filed their appeal this afternoon before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the same court that is hearing an appeal of Judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling last August that the law unconstitutionally violated the civil rights of gays and lesbians.
Attorneys for ProtectMarriage.com, the anti-gay marriage group defending California's ban, said in court papers filed late last week that they would appeal Ware's decision.
They did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Matthew McGill, an attorney for two same-sex couples challenging the ban, said ProtectMarriage.com had been clear that they would continue a "smear campaign" against Walker.
"The only thing surprising about this development is doing so in the face of such a well-reasoned opinion," McGill said.
Said Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., counsel for the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), the sole sponsor of Perry v. Schwarzenegger: "It is disappointing that the Proponents of Proposition 8 continue their unfounded attack on former Chief Judge Walker, and this is just the latest sign of their desperation. Chief Judge Ware correctly recognized that a gay or lesbian judge is entitled to the same presumption of fairness and impartiality as all other federal judges, not the presumption of bias urged by Proponents. We are confident that the denial of Proponents' unfortunate motion will be affirmed."
Desperate times call for desperate measure, and the New York ruling has only, certainly, made times more desperate for those on the wrong side of history.
