California judge grants Prop 8 stay

After Judge Vaughn Walker overturned Proposition 8, the California initiative that banned gay marriage in the state, he issued a temporary hold on any new marriages taking place. He then made the decision today to extend the hold on same sex marriages. Those against Prop 8 will likely appeal the ruling.

Judge stops Prop 8 from being eliminated

Judge Vaughn Walker anticipated that his overturn of Proposition 8 would be appealed. He thought it was a good idea to stop same sex marriages from taking place so as to give a chance to those for Prop 8 to defend themselves in an appeal. According to the Los Angeles Times, Judge Walker placed an injunction on any further same sex marriages Aug. 4, to determine how long the injunction should last. The injunction granted today will only last till August 18. The defense of Perry v. Schwarzenegger has to be appealed by August 18 within the Court of Appeals in the Ninth Circuit or else same sex marriages could be allowed again.

Lacking a logical basis

Prop 8, according to Walker, hasn’t a legal basis for denying same sex couples to “marry” rather than being called a “civil union” or “domestic partnership.” He decided Prop 8 violated the 14th amendment which was also held up in Griswold v. Connecticut and Loving v. Virginia. He stayed the ruling after announcing it knowing that an appeal was to come from defenders.

Where the case is to go

To appeal a decision, one must go to the Federal courts, or the Court of Appeals, and California is within the Ninth Circuit for that. (Their circuit is the largest in the U.S.) Once the decision is made in the Court of Appeals, then it can be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States. Appellate courts can make the decision on whether or not they’d like to take the case. Whether or not to appeal can be decided by proponents in only six days.

Discover more information on this subject

LA Times

latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0813-gay-marriage-california-20100813,0,5087660.story

MSNBC

msnbcmedia.msn.com/i//MSNBC/Sections/NEWS/A_U.S.%20news/Life/gaymarriage.pdf