August 4th, 2010.
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge overturned California's same-sex marriage ban Wednesday in a landmark case that could eventually land before the U.S. Supreme Court to decide if gays have a constitutional right to marry in America.
Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker made his ruling in a lawsuit filed by two gay couples who claimed the voter-approved ban violated their civil rights.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/04/proposition-8-overturned_n_6707...
Excellent.
The judge who ruled in this case is an appointee of George Bush Sr., so the conservatives won't be able to say he is a liberal.
I believe it was actually Reagan, but your point still stands. And that makes it a little bit sweeter.
There seems to be some confusion in the reporting of who appointed him. Most sources I read say Bush Sr. Here is the L.A. Times:
"Walker, an appointee of President George H.W. Bush"
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/08/prop8-gay-marriage.html
The USA and their fixation on "who appointed the judge" ... if the system gives you judges that you can no longer trust to make a decision based on legal, rather than political facts, then the fixation should be on fixing your "effed up" system..... but screw the politics, this is still Good news, and very cool.
Also, this was the case where Ted Olson (rep) and David Boies (dem or ind?) were the lawyers for the good guys ... from what I recall of the case, the bigots made complete asses of themselves ... also good news and very cool.
Well the talking points on the American news sites are pretty clear... the right has decided that Walker (being gay) should never have been judging the case... conflict of interest. Funny, they don't seem to be able to extend that reasoning to exclude straight judges...
Well, off to the the 9th Circuit for Appeal, and then off to the US Supreme Court, wonder how slowly the wheels of justice are going to turn.
