9th Circuit Won't Hear Appeal of Prop 8 Same-Sex Marriage Case, Putting It on Fast Track to Supremes
In a move that could allow the U.S. Supreme Court to hear as early as this fall an expected appeal of a federal judge’s ruling that California ballot initiative banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court on Tuesday declined to review, en banc, an earlier decision by a three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ratifying the trial judge’s decision.
Attorney Tom Goldstein, who regularly practices before the Supreme Court, predicts that it might also consider at the same time a recent decision by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals striking significant portions of the federal Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional concerning the rights of same-sex couples, Reuters reports.
“The timing is too perfect,” he said, pointing to the possibility of a blockbuster set of oral arguments on the potential companion cases before the nation’s top court.
The so-called Proposition 8 case takes its name from the California ballot measure approved by voters.
The Recorder (sub. req.) also has a story.
