Proposition 8 panel a blend of federal judges from different backgrounds

The three-judge panel that will hear arguments next week in the legal battle over California's ban on same-sex marriage is an eclectic blend that covers the ideological spectrum of the sprawling 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. At first blush, the panel would appear to favor lawyers representing same-sex couples fighting to invalidate Proposition 8, which forbids gay marriage in California. Jud...

Mercury News • Nov 30, 2010

2 of 3 judges in Prop 8 case appointed by Dems

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals announced Monday that Judges Michael Hawkins, Stephen Reinhardt and N. Randy Smith were randomly assigned to the case over the constitutionality of the voter-approved ban, known as Proposition 8. Reinhardt is regarded as one of the 9th Circuit's most liberal jurists. He, along with Hawkins, were appointed by Democrat presidents. Smith was appointed by a Repub...

Washington Post • Nov 30, 2010

Meet Your Prop 8 Judges: Marine, Mormon, Liberal

Judge Michael Daly Hawkins: If Wikipedia is to be believed, he was born in Winslow, Arizona (no word on how many women are on his mind), got his BA and JD from Arizona State University in 1967 and 1970, respectively, and his Masters in Law degree from the University of Virginia in 1998. The Chron describes him as a "moderate Democrat." Career highlights include being the US Attorney for Arizona f...

San Francisco Appeal • Nov 30, 2010

Is Prop 8 Panel Judge Norman Randy Smith a Mormon?

I think that anyone crying foul/unfair due to a judge's religious views makes the same amount of sense as crying foul/unfair because of a judge's orientation. Just as it was absurd to question Judge Walker's ruling because he's not straight, it is absurd to question the ability of any judge based solely on his/her religious beliefs. Any judge worth his salt knows better than to judge civil law b...

LGBT POV • Nov 30, 2010

BREAKING NEWS: Ninth Circuit names judges who will hear Prop. 8 appeals case

-- Judge Stephen Roy Reinhardt. He was confirmed in 1980 after being nominated by President Jimmy Carter. He served in the Air Force. On Nov. 18, 2009, the judge ruled in favor of a gay couple who were having their spousal health care benefits denied - Brad Levenson and Tony Sears were married during the period gay marriage was legal in California during 2008, and was seeking benefits for his par...

San Diego Gay and Lesbian News • Nov 29, 2010

Good News as Prop 8 Battle Nears Next Milestone: This Week in Prop 8 for November 29, 2010

Breathe a sigh of relief: Kamala Harris has won the race for California's Attorney General, beating anti-gay Republican Steve Cooley. Harris, formerly the District Attorney of San Francisco, has pledged to defend equal marriage, while ...

Stop8.org • Nov 29, 2010

Eight Days in a Changed World: From marriage to the military, the next two weeks will highlight how far the movement for gay equality has come - and how far it has to go

During the next eight days, efforts aimed at stopping discrimination in two of the most traditionally conservative (and heterosexual) of institutions - marriage and the military - will be front and center. What's more, the efforts have, in part, gotten where they have because of the leadership of two unexpected allies: a secretary of defense from the Bush administration and a top lawyer from the B...

Metro Weekly • Nov 29, 2010

Kamala Harris Victory Over Anti-Gay Marriage Steve Cooley Cheered

Harris, who enjoyed the endorsement of Equality California, the state's largest gay advocate, promised to "never defend the anti-LGBT Proposition 8 in federal court." "We're thrilled that our state has elected a governor and an attorney general who will refuse to defend Proposition 8 in court," Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, said....

On Top Magazine • Nov 27, 2010

New Prop. 8 hearing order

Under the new order, the first hour -- the same as before -- will be devoted to whether anyone has "standing" to appeal a federal judge's decision striking down Proposition 8.k The second hour - focusing on the merits of the ban -- will provide 20 minutes, instead of 15, for the challengers....

SCOTUSblog • Nov 27, 2010

Gay 'Progressive' Republican on Air in Iowa

Mr. Karger, 60, has never held elected office and acknowledges that he does not have much of a shot at winning his party's nod. Instead, his goal is to make history as the first openly gay presidential candidate for a major party. "My overriding goal is to be a participant in those Republican debates," he said in an interview on Wednesday. "I need to start early." But Mr. Karger is hardly a poli...

NY Times • Nov 26, 2010

Are Gay-Rights Rulings Spurring Change or Frustrating Public Opinion?

Judges, of course, are not in the public polling business. They're generally not encouraged to calibrate their rulings to ensure they are line with the prevailing views of the day. On hot button issues, judges operate in the more rarefied air of deciding whether conduct comports with the Constitution. But the Time piece is focused on a narrower issue -- can courts, as a practical matter, give ris...

Wall Street Journal • Nov 26, 2010

Republican and Gay-Rights Activist Gears up for a Presidential Run

Karger faces a steep challenge indeed - without name recognition, fundraising for a presidential campaign will likely prove daunting. Although he worked as a political consultant for years, Karger has never held elected office - but paints himself as a "true outsider" trying to change the system. "I'm concerned that the partisan rancor's only going to continue and get in the way of our country's ...

Fox News • Nov 26, 2010

Kamala Harris Wins California Attorney General Race

Harris has steadfastly promised not to defend Prop. 8, the voter-approved initiative that banned same-sex marriage in California, in the federal appeals case that begins on December 6. Cooley promised to do the opposite, and defend Prop. 8....

SheWired • Nov 25, 2010

AFER Co-Founder Goes From Fighting Prop 8 to Running Michelle Obama's Communications Office

One of the co-founding board members of the organization bringing the historic challenge to California's Proposition 8, Kristina Schake, is resigning from the American Foundation for Equal Rights board at the end of the month to start a new job at the White House on Dec. 6 -- the same day that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is to hear the appeal in Perry v. Schwarzenegger. In a n...

Metro Weekly • Nov 23, 2010

Are the Courts Ahead of the Public on Gay Rights?

"[Might] the backlash prove to be powerful enough to delay permanent recognition of gay marriage? There is unquestionably the risk," law professor Marc Spindelman of the Ohio State University tells TIME. "Before [Ted] Olson and [David] Boies brought their Prop 8 case ... there were deep concerns about the timing of the case because of concerns that not enough groundwork had been done to win suppor...

Time • Nov 23, 2010

Colorado Springs-based Family Research Institute tagged as hate group

In its most recent Intelligence Report, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) announced that it will designate the Colorado Springs-based Family Research Institute as a hate group for "pumping out religiously motivated... demonizing propaganda aimed at homosexuals and other sexual minorities." SPLC writes that the relatively small Family Research Institute enjoys disproportionate influence becaus...

Colorado Independent • Nov 23, 2010

Prop 8 Trial on TV and on the Ballot: This Week in Prop 8 for November 22, 2010

Put a big star on the calendar on December 6th, because that's when we'll see the next high-profile court date for Prop 8. But it'll go by quickly: just a few hours of lawyers making arguments in front of appellate judges, and...

Stop8.org • Nov 23, 2010

Proposition 8 Lawsuit: Unintended Legal Consequences?

What happens if the court decides neither Prop. 8 backers nor Imperial County have standing to appeal? Some legal experts say the Court could simply dismiss the appeal and let Judge Walker's decision stand as is. But UC Davis Law Professor Vikram Amar has a very different take. He thinks this could essentially erase the lower court decision leading to a default judgment in favor of the two same se...

KQED • Nov 20, 2010

EQCA looks to future, releases financial data

This week, the San Francisco-based group released tax documents showing an unsurprising, but drastic drop in contributions after the unsuccessful 2008 campaign against the Prop 8 same-sex marriage ban. Contributions and grants to EQCA were down from about $14 million in 2008 to approximately $6 million in 2009, according to the group's 990 forms prepared for the IRS. The 2008 990s had previously ...

Bay Area Reporter • Nov 18, 2010

Mormons Revise GLBT Stance in Updated Church Policies

GLBT equality advocates are hailing alterations to the Mormon "Church Handbook" as evidence that the church--famed for its role in supporting Proposition 8 two years ago in California--is changing its stance toward gays. The Human Rights Campaign responded to revisions in the LDS Church Handbook that departed from earlier editions of the book by not labeling homosexual urges in and of themselves ...

Edge • Nov 18, 2010

BREAKING: 9th Circuit Prop 8 hearing will be televised LIVE on C-SPAN

C-SPAN applied to televise live the case captioned above, scheduled to be heard in San Francisco, on December 6, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. C-SPAN's request to televise live is GRANTED. A maximum of two (2) video cameras will be permitted in the courtroom. C-SPAN will serve as the pool-feed for all media organizations that submit an application....

Prop 8 Trial Tracker • Nov 18, 2010

Rules for oral appeal layed out for Perry

The Court orders that oral argument in these appeals be conducted in the following manner: The argument shall be divided into two hour-long sessions, with a brief recess in between. In the first hour, the parties shall address each appellant's standing and any other procedural matters that may properly be raised. In the second hour, the parties shall address the constitutionality of Proposition 8....

Box Turtle Bulletin • Nov 16, 2010

Appeals court sets hearing on Proposition 8

A federal appeals court Monday scheduled a two-hour hearing on Proposition 8, California's anti-gay marriage initiative, for Dec. 6....

LA Times • Nov 16, 2010

Prop. 8 Judge Vaughn Walker to Teach at U.C. Berkeley Law School

Vaughn Walker, the federal judge who in August delivered a landmark ruling affirming the right of same-sex couples in California to marry, will begin teaching a class at U.C. Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law after he retires at the end of this year. Walker's ruling that Proposition 8 -- the California ballot initiative that banned gay marriage in 2008 -- was unconstitutional came in a very int...

SF Weekly • Nov 11, 2010

Lambda Legal's Jon Davidson on the DOMA Lawsuits

Earlier this year, Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski agreed with Lambda that refusing Golinski those benefits for her spouse violate the court's own employment discrimination policy. He ordered Blue Cross/Blue Shield to enroll Cunninghis in the court's plan. But OPM told Blue Cross/Blue Shield not to. Lambda is seeking an injunction against OPM - again, a department run by an openly gay man ...

LGBT POV • Nov 11, 2010

Stand with Mike Gronstal

On November 4th, 2010, against enormous pressure, Iowa Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal vowed to stand up for equality by refusing to allow a Constitutional Amendment banning marriage equality in Iowa to come to a vote....

ActBlue • Nov 9, 2010

Kamala Harris-Steve Cooley race could affect Prop. 8

If the appeals court and the Supreme Court deny standing, they could toss out Prop. 8 without deciding whether it violates the constitutional rights of gays and lesbians to choose a marital partner, as Walker concluded. But that's where the plot thickens. According to UC Irvine law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, a liberal scholar who opposes Prop. 8, Cooley -- if elected -- could then go back to the tri...

SF Gate • Nov 9, 2010

Double Dose of DOMA Challenges

The Defense of Marriage Act is due for a two-pronged attack on Tuesday, as two separate organizations and sets of lawyers, representing different plaintiffs, plan to file lawsuits in federal court challenging the federal definition of marriage. The Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) plans to file a lawsuit in Connecticut challenging DOMA's Section 3, which defines "marriage" and "spou...

Metro Weekly • Nov 9, 2010

What the Election Means for Prop 8: This Week in Prop 8 for November 8, 2010

The election might've been rough for most of the Country, but the news in California (and beyond) actually isn't all that bad. The biggest dodged bullet: Jerry Brown beat Meg Whitman, Gavin Newsom beat Abel Maldonado, and Barbara Boxer beat Carly Fiorina. All three democrats favor marriage equality, and ...

Stop8.org • Nov 8, 2010

LGBT Candidates and Allies Win Big in California

Tuesday night's elections in California were full of victories for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. Meg "Civil Unions Are Good Enough" Whitman was defeated by pro-equality Jerry Brown, in spite of the more than $150 million of her personal fortune she poured into her campaign. And this morning Kamala Harris pulled ahead of Steve Cooley in her race for Attorney General, though the rac...

California Progress Report • Nov 6, 2010

Record number of LGBT candidates elected despite NOM's $5 million anti-gay campaign

As Eden reported yesterday, despite spending over $5 million on right wing, anti-gay candidates, the so-called "National Organization For Marriage" had little success at the ballot box on Tuesday. NOM's dismal showing on Tuesday further underscores how out of touch NOM is with mainstream America. Not only was NOM's support less than likely to lead to election, but for many candidates, NOM's suppo...

Prop 8 Trial Tracker • Nov 6, 2010

Democratic leader in Iowa Senate vows he'll block vote on gay marriage

Despite sweeping GOP gains in Iowa government Tuesday, one Democratic senator will thwart efforts to allow Iowans a vote on gay marriage. Republicans will occupy the governor's office and will control the Iowa House next year, and there's a chance that final results could give Republicans a 25-25 deadlock in the Iowa Senate. But Senate Democrats will maintain at least equal power -- which will g...

DesMoins Register • Nov 4, 2010

Anti-gay marriage attorney loses Assembly bid Share

Voters in a Sacramento-area Assembly district have defeated a Republican attorney who became the face of California's ongoing debate over gay marriage during the fall election....

Sacramento Bee • Nov 4, 2010

Kamala Harris Vows to Fight Prop 8 If She's Voted California's AG

The district attorneys of Los Angeles and San Francisco, Republican Steve Cooley and Democrat Kamala Harris, respectively, face off on Tuesday--and they couldn't be more different. The 63-year-old Cooley is a moderate conservative who says he will support Prop. 8, California's voter-approved initiative banning gay marriage, in a federal appeals court; the 46-year-old mixed-race Harris has vowed to...

SheWired • Nov 2, 2010