Ninth Circuit Stays Gay Marriage in California

The Ninth Circuit has grated a stay on gay marriages in California pending appeal. This overturns Vaughn Walker's allowance for gay marriages to bein in earnest on Wednesday. As a result, there will be no new gay marriages until at least December.

This is an interesting turn of events. I doubt anyone anticipated the Ninth Circuit, which never met a progressive social engineering project it did not adore, is not going to rubber stamp walker’s trial court decision no matter how barren of legal reasoning it is. The stay is implemented under the rationale of avoiding damage. In translation, te ninth Circuit does not want gay couples marrying in the interim because walker’s trial court decision may be overturned.

I am skeptical it will, mind you. In all likelihood, the Ninth Circuit is chomping at the bit to allow for gay marriage, but I going through cautious procedural motions to avoid controversy.

On a more legally sound note, te issue of standing may be a real problem. The original suit against the constitutionality of Proposition 8 was filed against the Governator and Jerry Brown, neither of whom honored their oath to defend the people’s will. Proposition 8 proponents stepped in to defend the case, ut they may lack the standing to appeal.

Which makes one wonder how they were able to defend Proposition 8 in the first place. Being a voter or tax payer is not enough is not enough to qualify for standing. Oth parties in the impending appeal are ordered to include brief explaining their rationale for standing within their appeals. Parties ave to do that normally, so when it specifically mentioned, then standing is going to be a central issue.

Standing my become a moot issue by December, anyway. There will be a new governor and attorney general who may push the appeal on behalf of the majority of voters eho supported Proposition 8 regardless of their opinion on gay marriage.

If I had to venture a guess, the ninth Circuit is going to rule proposition 8 proponents do not have standing to appeal, so the stay on new gay marriages is delaying the inevitable. What I am really curious about is how the case gets to the United States Supreme Court. Considering the standing issue, I would guess the Justice Department would have to file suit in order to have the Constitutionality issue settled. That assumes the SCOTUS considers the issue ripe enough.

We are getting way ahead of ourselves there. Let us wait until we see how the stading issue plays out. law