9th Circuit Upholds Ruling Striking Down Proposition 8

Attorneys Ted Olson (2nd R) and David Boies (L)

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has issued their decision in Perry v. Brown.  You can find a pdf of the ruling here (via BoxTurtleBulletin) The ruling will have major implications for gay marriage, both in California and possibly in other states.

The court had three main issues facing them:

First, they had to decide whether lower court trial judge Vaughn Walker should have recused himself from a case involving gay civil rights issues... because he himself was gay. Honestly, this line of attack was sort of ludicrous and most everyone expected the court's ruling today to dispose of that question quickly and decisively. No, Judge Walker was not required to recuse himself! 

The second question was a bit thornier. Did proponents of Proposition 8 actually have the right to appeal the lower court decision striking Prop 8 as unconstitutional when none of the state defendants (Governor, Attorney General) chose to do so?

Prop 8 backers, can you demonstrate that gay marriage causes actual injury to you?

Ultimately, the court decided that plaintiffs do have standing and then addressed the third and biggest question: whether Judge Walker was correct that Proposition 8 violates federal Constitutional due process and equal protection rights.

The court responded thus...

"By using their initiative power to target a minority group and withdraw a right that it possessed, without a legitimate reason for doing so, the People of California violated the Equal Protection Clause. We hold Proposition 8 to be unconstitutional on this ground."

Below you'll find a press conference livestream starting at 2:30pm Eastern featuring lead defense attorneys David Boies and Ted Olsen.

Full text of the opinion...