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Prop 8 Goes to Federal Court on Thursday
Prop 8 Chalk Advocacy found on Hollywood Blvd. after the CA Supreme Court Ruling | Photo by Tom Andrews/LAist
Prop 8 Chalk Advocacy found on Hollywood Blvd. after the CA Supreme Court Ruling | Photo by Tom Andrews/LAist
In a move that some feel is risky, Prop 8 will be tested in Federal Court Thursday when it will go before U.S. District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker in the Northern District of California, according to Karen Ocamb at The Bilerico Project.
Formerly lawyers who fought against each other in the Bush vs. Gore case, Ted Olson and David Boies have joined together to fight Prop 8. They will be asking for "a preliminary motion eeking a temporary and permanent injunction against enforcement of Prop 8 on the grounds that the state constitutional amendment violates the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution."
If approved, gay marriage could temporarily be legal until the a decision was made. However, California Attorney General Jerry Brown, who also believes Prop 8 should be stricken, is concerned about such a move. "Staying operation of Proposition 8, without the certainty of a final judgment as to its constitutionality, would leave same-sex couples, as well as their families, friends, and the wider community, in legal limbo," he said.
Brown, along with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and counties of Alameda and Los Angeles, are defendants in the case, but none of them will defend themselves in court. Schwarzenegger also believes Prop 8 should be stricken.
Another worry is that a Supreme Court ruling in favor of Prop 8 could have a long lasting negative impact on the issue across the country, affecting state court rulings and at the ballot box. "These organizations, which have been fighting these battles for decades, reminded their community that it took 17 years to undo Bowers v. Hardwick, the 1986 Supreme Court decision that upheld Georgia's sodomy law. That was fast for the Supreme Court," noted Former Nixon White House counsel John Dean at FindLaw.
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