We are not talking about legislative developments here. We are talking about a specific court case: Hollingsworth v. Perry. This case came out of the District Appeal, with a very narrow scope. Correct me if I am wrong, but there really isn’t anyway that the Supreme Court could decide Hollingsworth v. Perry such that it affected the entire nation.
From the SCOTUSBlog: The Court has announced that it will review the constitutionality of both the federal Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8. The Court did not act today on the petition involving a challenge to Arizona’s Section O.
The Ninth Circuit was not really asked if it as a whole body supports Prop 8 or not. It was merely asked if it wanted to re-hear the appeal. The reason it would re-hear the appeal would be if, a majority of the judges felt that the both sides had not had a fair trail in the first appeal before the three judge panel. Today’s actions merely mean that the whole court, or a majority of the 26 justices believed that the three panel judgement was fair, reasoned and based on sound judicial principles.
The linked story is an excellent read concerning what today’s ruling means: Assuming that the proponents will seek Supreme Court review of their appellate loss, they would file a petition for a writ of certiorari. The plaintiffs and the state defendants — who have opposed Proposition 8’s constitutionality — as well as outside groups and individuals would then be able to file a response to the proponents’ filing. The Supreme Court, which generally recesses for the[Read More…]
This afternoon at 1PM, Pittsburgh time, the Ninth circuit is expected to announce if a larger number of judges will re-hear the Prop 8 appeal. The best write up of this I have read, is Chris Geidner’s in MewtroWeekly. Check it out to understand what the various outcomes might mean.
it is a perspective of Equality that has moved out into a public conversation more than any other issue. And so, no matter what happens with Marriage Equality, it will either push full equality farther along or hinder our progress on all fronts., so it impacts every single member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer communities.
But it also seems rational, that since this was a citizen’s initiated effort, that the court will allow citizens to appeal the case to the next level of the court. It is anticipated that at that level, it will win, but if it is allowed to continue, there will be no stopping the case and it will go all the way to the Supreme Court. In this scenario, more people may potentially win, as it could influence the right to marry nationally, but given how conservative the Supreme Court currently is, one can easily imagine the case being decided against Marriage Equality. Bigger potential win, but bigger risk.
However, he has now demonstrated a part of his real agenda which could not be more anti-LGBT by filing a brief in the California Prop 8 case. To be clear, the Prop 8 case, by everyone’s estimation wouldn’t have any bearing on Pennsylvania directly.
No matter how passionate you are about Marriage Equality, it is in your best interest to understand the nuances of Walker’s decision, and what the next steps may mean. It could mean the difference between an end to Prop 8 for California, or a cornerstone for the foundation of the case that will allow Same- Sex Marriage across the entire country.
It never ceases to amaze me how trampled the constitution is by some of the very folks who scream the loudest that the Democrats are destroying our country