U.S. Appeals Court Declines to Revisit California Gay Marriage Ban, Clears Way for Potential SCOTUS

[Hissyspit]

Source: Reuters

California gay marriage case looks headed to Supreme Court

By Peter Henderson and Dan Levine
SAN FRANCISCO | Tue Jun 5, 2012 12:56pm EDT

(Reuters) - The ninth Circuit Court of Appeals cleared the way for the Supreme Court to consider California's gay marriage ban, declining an appeal to revisit the case.

Supporters of the 2008 ban have lost two rounds in federal court but have made clear they will appeal to the Supreme Court and hope for a favorable response from the conservative court.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/05/us-california-gay-idUSBRE8540XX20120605

[RKP5637]

1. I wonder how a SCOTUS result would go. If bad, I guess that would

overrule gay marriage in states that have approved it? I guess I don't know if the U.S. Appeals Court declining a revisit is good or bad.

[The Second Stone]

4. The judge who wrote the decision

wrote it with the USSC review in mind. The five freaks, in order to reverse the decision, are going to have to create huge exceptions to their own stated views, which would undermine the larger issues of conservatism. (States rights, etc.) So overturning it will require undermining the judicial underpinnings of conservative jurisprudence.

[wilsonbooks]

5. How important do you think it is to them to be intellectually consistent?

It didn't seem to bother them when they installed w.

[Zoeisright]

6. No kidding.

Intellectualism period seems to be lacking in the freaky five.

[RKP5637]

7. Interesting! Thanks! n/t

[Freddie Stubbs]

11. They aren't going to decide whether or not states can allow same-sex marriage

The issue would be whether or not states can ban same-sex marraige.

[AndyTiedye]

12. The Roberts Court Likes to Make Super-Broad Rulings

They had the plaintiffs in Citizens United rewrite their appeal so they could issue an uber-broad ruling to throw out all constraints on corporate political contributions.

They may well do something similar here. Opus Dei has a controlling interest on this court, and they want gay marriage banned.

[RKP5637]

13. Yep, that's my fear too. We have basically a rigged SCOTUS. n/t

[William769]

2. Good!

I see this as very positive. I believe this issue will tear SCOTUS apart if they decide to infringe on the rights of marriage equality.

I am almost willing to bet that they will deny to hear the case and leave it up to the individual States at this time.

ETA: Does this mean that Gay marriage is now legal again in California?

[Fearless]

8. I believe it means that it's not illegal.

"On August 4, 2010, a federal court declared the ban unconstitutional in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, a decision which was upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on February 7, 2012. A series of stays have kept the legal availability of same-sex marriage on hold pending further appeal."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_California

Since the appeal has been denied... I assume that means that they're not illegal. I don't know if the stay is still in place though. If yes, then they still can't happen. If no, there's really nothing stopping cities from granting licenses.

EDIT TO ADD: Drawing back from the February 9th circuit ruling...

"Legal analysts questioned whether the Supreme Court would agree to take the case because of the narrow scope of the ruling. California is the only state to grant gays the right to marry and rescind it.

Douglas NeJaime, an associate professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said the California-specific scope of the 9th Circuit panel's decision means the Supreme Court can uphold it without ruling "on marriage for same-sex couples on a national scale."

"In effect, the 9th Circuit's decision allows the Supreme Court to continue the incremental, case-by-case trajectory of marriage for same-sex couples in the United States," NeJaime said in an email.

Weddings appeared unlikely to resume anytime soon. The ruling will not take effect until the deadline passes in two weeks for Proposition 8's backers to appeal to a larger panel of the 9th Circuit. Lawyers for the coalition of conservative religious groups that sponsored the measure said they have not decided if they will seek a 9th Circuit rehearing or file an appeal directly to the Supreme Court."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/07/proposition-8-california-same-sex-marriage-ban-ruling_n_1260171.html

I think it comes down to whether or not the stay has been lifted since the 9th Circuit panel has rejected the ban. This I don't know.

On the STAY ORDER:

"UC Irvine Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky said it was "understandable" that the court "would want to preserve the status quo" pending a final ruling.

But he said he believed Monday's order could not "be reconciled with well-established law in terms of what is required for a stay." To block the effect of a ruling, an appealing party must show that it is likely to prevail on appeal and that it will suffer irreparable harm unless the ruling is blocked."

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/aug/17/local/la-me-gay-marriage-stay-20100817

This seems to imply that there are no grounds for a stay, might never have been, but certainly aren't now. If this statement is factual, marriages should resume promptly. I stress should.

[William769]

9. Thanks.

I hope licenses are issued immediately!

[NorthCarolina]

15. In response to your question,

"Does this mean that Gay marriage is now legal again in California?"

I believe that the decision of the court was stayed until all appeals were complete. If it is being appealed to the SCOTUS, then gay marriage would remain illegal in CA during the appeal process.

[Fearless]

3. I don't think the SCOTUS will pick this up right now...

Not unless they have to. Traditionally the court has sided on the side of freedom of speech, even the conservative justices. I don't think they want to deal with being in the political light right now. That said, those who want it ruled in favor of (of a ban) will want it now because it's only going to be more difficult in the future as lower courts keep ruling against bans.

We'll see. I'd like to see a few new justices before this happens though.

[cate94]

10. Good news for CA

I doubt that SCOTUS will hear the case. If it does hear the case, I do not think it will go well for us.

[RKP5637]

14. Given how RW the US is, and many loving discrimination, I think it will go poorly. It will

be bullying by the highest court in the nation. The RW will cheer and celebrate seeing more people kicked around and made miserable.