Were Judges Right to Reject Prop. 8 as Unconstitutional?

Update: A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that Proposition 8, the voter-approved ban on same-sex weddings, was unconstitutional. 

The 2-1 decision, however, will likely be appealed to either the full 9th Circuit Court or directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. Despite the ruling, a stay on gay marriages in California will remain in effect while the court case
continues.

Original story:

Southland activists on both sides of the same-sex marriage debate will learn Tuesday the next twist in the saga of Proposition 8, with the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals expected to issue its ruling on the constitutionality of the ballot issue that prevented same-sex weddings in California.

It’s been a battle long fought in the polls and in the courtroom, dating back to 2000 when California voters first passed Prop. 22, a state law limiting marriage to heterosexual couples. But in May 2008, the state Supreme Court ruled the law was unconstitutional because it discriminated against gays and lesbians, and an estimated 18,000 same-sex couples got married in the ensuing months.

Opponents of same-sex marriage quickly got Prop. 8 on the November 2008
ballot to amend the state constitution, and it was approved by a margin of 52.5
percent to 47.5 percent. The approval of the measure led to statewide protests and lawsuits challenging its legality.

Same-sex marriage supporters took their case to federal court, and U.S.
District Judge Vaughn R. Walker ruled in August 2010 that Proposition 8 "both
unconstitutionally burdens the exercise of the fundamental right to marry and
creates an irrational classification on the basis of sexual orientation."

Backers of Proposition 8—ProtectMarriage.com—appealed to the 9th
Circuit, because then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and then-Attorney General
Jerry Brown declined to do so. The appellate court heard arguments last year,
but put a decision on hold while it awaited the state Supreme Court's ruling on
the ability of Prop. 8 backers to press the case forward.

Once the state Supreme Court decided that Prop. 8 supporters had legal standing, the 9th Circuit moved ahead with its consideration of the case, hearing more arguments in December on a motion by Prop. 8 backers asking that Vaughn's ruling be thrown out because the judge was in a long-term same-sex relationship that he had not disclosed. ProtectMarriage.com attorney Andy Pugno said California voters who supported Proposition 8 should not be invalidated "based on just one judge's opinion."

The court's ruling is expected to be released by 10 a.m. Tuesday. Many legal experts have said the case is likely to be appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court regardless of the 9th Circuit’s ruling.

--City News Service