A Prop 8 Trial Tracker Community Match

This afternoon, P8TT community member Peterplumber generously offered to match any donation made from the P8TT community between now and Monday night, up to $1,000. The funds will be earmarked for our work on the ground in other states to bring the kind of success we had at pushing back on the anti-marriage equality bill yesterday in New Hampshire, pushing back hard on NOM, generating Testimony st...

Prop 8 Legal Commentary • Feb 18, 2011

Prop. 8 proponents alleged to use latest discovery dispute in Perry case to try to distance themselves from anti-gay prejudice

Parties in Perry v. Schwarzenneger continue to dispute the scope of First Amendment protection from compelled disclosure of private communications to develop campaign strategy and messaging. The latest version of the dispute concerns whether Prop. 8 proponents, and their recalcitrant witness, Dr. Hak Shing "William" Tam, can now claim a First Amendment privilege as reason to strike from the trial...

Prop 8 Legal Commentary • May 9, 2010

Continued impasse in Perry case's discovery dispute: Walker's order for ACLU and Equality California to show why he should not cite them in contempt

Walker has just ordered the ACLU and Equality California to show cause why he should not hold them in contempt for failing to produce documents subject to the March discovery orders. They have until April 27th to submit their written arguments, for a hearing on April 28th....

Prop 8 Legal Commentary • Apr 26, 2010

9th Circuit panel dismisses appeal by California Equality and ACLU of order compelling them to disclose Prop. 8 campaign communications

Judge Walker today issued an order to show cause why the evidentiary record in the case should not be closed. Parties in the Perry case have until April 16th to respond. Walker clearly wants to remove another cause of delay to closing arguments and a final judgment....

Prop 8 Legal Commentary • Apr 13, 2010

Opening briefs filed in 9th Circuit Court appeal of Perry discovery order

In their opening brief, appellants argue that the Court has "finality" jurisdiction to review their appeal now rather than wait for them to appeal it later, after Judge Walker effectively resolves the question of "finality" jurisdiction by citing them for violating the recent discovery order. Appellants also argue that, under Perry v. Schwarzenegger, 591 F.3d 1147 (9th Cir. 2010) and another prece...

Prop 8 Legal Commentary • Apr 11, 2010

Latest appeal of discovery order in Perry v. Schwarzenneger: parties to file briefing by April 9th

By April 9th, "parties shall file simultaneous briefs addressing solely the issues of whether this court has jurisdiction over this appeal and whether mandamus is appropriate."...

Prop 8 Legal Commentary • Apr 5, 2010

Lewis v. Harris II: Lambda Legal files motion in New Jersey Supreme Court to uphold marriage equality under state constitution

Lambda Legal represents six same-sex couples in today's motion. The couples have asked the Court to declare that the Civil Union Act violates the state constitution's guarantee of full equality to same-sex couples, and to direct the state to allow them to marry....

Prop 8 Legal Commentary • Mar 18, 2010

Yesterday's developments in Perry v. Schwarzenneger

Thanks to California attorney Rick Xiao for forwarding these filings. He notes that "over the course of the Prop. trial, plaintiffs intend to introduce nearly 2000 trial exhibits!"...

Prop 8 Legal Commentary • Dec 24, 2009

Will 9th Circuit staff attorney Karen Golinski file a DOMA suit in California?

n early January 2010, the most exhaustive legal review of gay rights in the country's history will come in a public trial led by Ted Olson and David Boies in Judge Walker's San Francisco courtroom. And it's very likely that DOMA will soon be challenged in California too. For the nationwide gay rights movement, federal courts in California will take center stage in the years to come....

Prop 8 Legal Commentary • Dec 19, 2009

Prop. 8 proponents likely to prevail in their appeal to withhold internal campaign communications from Perry plaintiffs

Today the 9th Circuit panel ruled in favor of the Prop. 8 proponents. The panel upheld the stay: Appellants' motion for leave to file an oversized reply is granted. Appellants' November 23, 2009 reply has been filed. We conclude that appellants have made a strong showing that they are likely to succeed on the merits and that they will be irreparably injured absent a stay....

Prop 8 Legal Commentary • Dec 4, 2009

Judge Walker orders production of campaign documents by official Prop. 8 propnents

Among other things, Judge Walker admonished Prop. 8 proponents that his previous discovery orders, while being appealed to the Ninth Circuit, remain in effect because the appellate court has not issued a stay. Thus, Prop. 8 proponents risk contempt of the court if they continue to withhold production....

Prop 8 Legal Commentary • Nov 20, 2009

Hearing on discovery in Perry v. Schwarzenneger: comments by anonymous reader of this site

As for what Walker's up to, bear in mind that he's a tough nut to predict, if not crack, at times. That caution aside, Walker's determination to get this case on its way to the Ninth Circuit quickly and with a fulsome record is classic Walkerism. He has rather odd habits, however, of trying to corral parties to get to trial without definitively disposing of motions that most judges just rule on. ...

Prop 8 Legal Commentary • Nov 15, 2009

Parents may not exempt their children from anti-bullying curriculum about non-traditional families, says school district in lawsuit

The case shows that even in a state with a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, opponents of same-sex marriage still allege that public schools "indoctrinate" students in lessons about non-traditional families, contrary to the religious values of their parents. They characterize "indoctrination" as a requirement that all public school students, without exception, participate in any program abo...

Prop 8 Legal Commentary • Oct 27, 2009

A profile of Cooper & Kirk's Charles Cooper, attorney for official Prop. 8 proponents in the Perry case

Charles Cooper, of Cooper & Kirk, represents the official Prop. 8 proponents in the Perry case. According to The Recorder, he is a close friend of plaintiffs' attorney Theodore Olson. Both were colleagues in Reagen's Justice Department....

Prop 8 Legal Commentary • Oct 7, 2009

What divides plaintiffs' counsel in the Perry case and allied interests seeking intervention? Different arguments reflect different strategic goals.

Why are the LGBT Groups and SF so concerned to develop the factual record about how and why Prop. 8 was adopted, while Boies and Olson prefer arguments to attack any ban on same-sex marriage? The former have a more limited goal. By examining how and why Prop. 8 was adopted, they can demonstrate that Prop. 8 was solely intended to express hostility and disapproval against same-sex couples, and that...

Prop 8 Legal Commentary • Aug 11, 2009

Conflict between Liberty Counsel and Alliance Defense Fund: the flip side of affaire de American Foundation for Equal Rights

In the Perry case, bloggers and the news media have followed recent tensions between the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) - which funds the work of Ted Olson and David Boies - and several legal organizations at the forefront of gay rights advocacy. I have, however, seen no discussion of comparable tensions between the legal organizations representing ProtectMarriage.com / Yes on 8 - wh...

Prop 8 Legal Commentary • Aug 8, 2009

Four-Part Series on Marriage Equality and Religious Liberty By Professor John Culhane: Part I: Defining the Conflicts and Issues

Dale Carpenter hasn't found a single reported case testing the religious freedoms of objectors against the rights of same-sex couples to marry or "civilly unite." That doesn't mean, of course, that conflicts haven't arisen, or even that the odd suit hasn't been filed. (Generally, only appellate cases are reported, and many cases of course settle even before trial.) But he's probably right that con...

Prop 8 Legal Commentary • Aug 3, 2009