Ninth Circuit Rules Prop 8 Unconstitutional

Now this is some news that will get a night shift gal out of bed in the early afternoon:

“Prop8TrialTracker.com has received the 9th Circuit’s opinion in Perry v. Brown that Proposition 8, the 2008 voter-enacted ban on marriage equality in California, is unconstitutional. In addition, the appeals panel ruled that the proponents of Prop 8 did have standing to pursue their appeal of Judge Walker’s decision striking down the marriage ban, and upheld District Court Judge Ware’s decision denying a stay to throw out Walker’s ruling because he is gay. The ruling on constitutionality was divided on an 2-1 vote, with Judges Stephen Reinhardt and Michael Hawkins voting to strike Prop 8 down, and Judge N. Randy Smith voting to uphold the ban. The ruling regarding standing and the motion to throw out Judge Walker’s decision was a unanimous 3-0 vote.”

This is exciting news. Follow the link–Prop 8 Trial Tracker is the best resource for this case. It is the very same site, in fact, that live-blogged the original trial, over which Judge Vaughn Walker presided.

What’s next? According to the above resource, the proponents of Prop 8 could appeal either to have the case heard in front of the entire Ninth Circuit, or it could go to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court, obviously, is a very big deal. I doubt very much that the Court would refuse to hear this case, as it is one of the most popular and relevant questions in U.S. law at the moment.

I can’t wait to read the whole ruling, which is linked here. If I get a chance before work tonight (ha!) I’ll post my thoughts on it, as well as some choice snippets.

(Amusing side note: the Courage Campaign beat the New York Times in sending me an e-mail to inform me. Go CC!)

Prop 8 Hearing Continuing Now.

C-Span is airing the appeal live for Proposition 8 right now. Tune in if you are able. If not, Prop 8 Trial Tracker is live blogging from the courtroom. I am watching it the proceedings now, and am also tweeting summaries and my own commentary on this blog’s Twitter account. Follow me to keep up with the arguments!

Edit: Now that the court has adjourned, tune into Prop8TrialTracker for analysis and discussion. Sadly I cannot participate until later tonight, but that doesn’t mean you can’t!