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The retirement of California Supreme Court Justice Moreno and the Prop 8 case
June 28, 2011
By Adam Bink
Over at KQED, Scott Shafer wonders what the effect of New York legalizing same-sex marriage will be on California. I noticed this excerpt on the California Supreme Court:
Here in California, Prop. 8 is mired in legal battle. While supporters of same sex marriage have won important legal victories, including the recent rejection of a motion to strike down Vaughn Walker’s Prop. 8 decision, the issue is in some ways on the slow track.
The appeal of Walker’s decision is stalled at the 9th Circuit, which awaits legal advice from the California Supreme Court on whether Prop. 8 backers have legal standing to appeal Judge Walker’s decision. A date for oral arguments has not been set. It was thought to happen in September, but until a 7th justice is appointed by Governor Brown to replace retired justice Carlos Moreno my guess is the court will be reluctant to schedule it. Otherwise there’s a risk that a random Appeals Court judge will sit in as the 7th justice and take part in the decision — not a good scenario for the new Chief Justice.
[...]
That said, at least two other states — Minnesota and N. Carolina — are said to be considering ballot measures banning gay marriage. So — this issue is far from done.
One clarification, which is that Minnesota has already put this issue to voters at the ballot. The second is that regarding the California Supreme Court, Chris Stoll and Shannon Minter over at NCLR commented to me over e-mail that the court, since Moreno retired, has been picking an appeals court justice alphabetically at random to fill the seat on different cases, and is expected to do so here as well. They also commented that they believe it is unlikely the court will delay the case until Gov. Brown fills the seat.
We’ll have to wait and see how the timeline plays out. Hardship has already come to couples who are forced to sit in limbo since the 9th Circuit certified the question to the California Supreme Court. Hopefully, a great deal more waiting does not come, as well.
Filed under: 9th Circuit Court of Appeals,Prop 8 trial
9 Comments Leave a Comment
1.
Alan_Eckert | June 28, 2011 at 10:15 am
And they delay it even further, which gives more reason to lift the stay!
2.
jpmassar | June 28, 2011 at 10:21 am
What conceivable reason is there for Brown not to have nominated someone by now?
3.
TKM | June 28, 2011 at 10:53 am
Standing or no standing, the proponents of 8 have a complete failure to defend. I can't imagine what argument a SCOTUS justice would adopt of theirs to allow 8 to stand.
4.
Andrew_SEA | June 28, 2011 at 11:57 am
Not to be a pessimist – but we should be planning for the maximum in delays.
The “against” SSM crowd will file any and every appeal they can. They know there is no case and they know that time after time, they are going to lose the court battles.
But it is not about losing court battles, it is about delaying the inevitable and causing as much heartache and pain as they possibly can.
You see – they claim to be Christian in name only. Their actions, though, tell a different story. Anything and everything that can cause pain and personal heartache is their only desire and they back it up by claiming religion and doing god’s will.
Expect and anticipate delay after delay. But KNOW that the fight is already won.
All it will take is time….
5.
fiona64 | June 28, 2011 at 2:51 pm
Semi-apropos of this conversation: my long-ago colleague and now progressive Presbyterian pastor friend Bruce Reyes-Chow has asked opponents of SSM to tell him why he is wrong. Our buddy Frank(lin) is over there with his same phony talking points (mais naturellement). Anyway, if you would like to contribute to the discussion (I am having a hard time remaining polite at this point, and am trying to do so because it's Bruce's space), here's the link:
http://www.patheos.com/community/breyeschow/2011/…
6.
Ronnie | June 28, 2011 at 7:30 pm
Subscribing & sharing…..George Takei on Marriage Equality in New York….. : ) …Ronnie:
[youtube MmYP0oK4dVM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmYP0oK4dVM youtube]
7.
aquaCA | June 29, 2011 at 7:07 am
I posted this hours ago but never showed up, so trying again. I apologize for any duplication.
Fiona, I have to say. You are AMAZING! And you must have nerves of steel. I had to stop reading because Frank's and Marie's posts were pure senseless rubbish and my brain was hurting with all that man-woman-child-god babbling.
You put on a good fight with facts and great intelligence and those 2 baboons (I know I offended all the baboon species, I'm sorry) were like a broken record with the bible, god and all that same old same, tired, ignorant rhetoric. It's not your fault that those 2 pea brains are impenetrable but I hope others will benefit from all the clear and intelligent arguments you put forth. Thank you!
8.
Ezam | July 16, 2011 at 9:48 pm
I don't know, but I hope Scalia and/or Thomas are out by the time Perry reaches the Supreme Court.
9. Prop 8 Trial Tracker &raq&hellip | July 27, 2011 at 7:13 am
[...] a month ago, I wrote about the retirement of California Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno, and the longstanding vacancy to [...]
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