Ruling Issued in Prop 8 Court Challenge

Today,  U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker issued his ruling in Perry v. Schwarzenegger.

He struck down Proposition 8!

The question for the court was whether California voters had the right to decide, via a state constitutional amendment (Prop 8), that California would only recognize heterosexual marriages.

Opponents argued that Prop 8 violated a basic civil right for same sex couples.

Defenders of Prop 8 mounted an amazingly weak defense, with many of their "expert" witnesses failing to show up and the two that did offering scant evidence on how limiting marriage in California to same sex couples would advance any sort of rational public interest.

Meanwhile, the plaintiffs offered up 17 witnesses and a solid factual record to argue that the ban on gay marriage denies same sex couples (and their children) basic civil rights.

Legal experts had largely predicted Judge Walker would overturn Prop 8, but there was keen interest on what grounds. If he decided it on a narrow state law basis then it would be less likely to be overturned on appeal, but not as valuable a precedent in other states.

However, if he decided the case on broader federal 14th Amendment grounds, the case would most certainly be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court.

The Judge's ruling is not the end of this battle unfortunately. Judge Walker (pictured right) is gay and Proposition 8 proponents have already pointed to his sexual orientation to claim that the ruling was biased.

It is virtually certain the ruling will be appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Among the federal circuits, the 9th is one of the more liberal, so it is likely Walker's ruling will be upheld there and then go on to the Supreme Court. With the current conservative bent of the U.S. Supreme Court it is anybody's guess what will happen there.

Thoughts?  How will you be celebrating the overturn of Prop 8 today?