Appeals Panel Weighs Narrow Ruling in Gay Marriage Case
A federal appeals court panel considering California’s gay marriage ban could decide the case without finding a broader constitutional right to same-sex marriage.
A three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals focused on two issues, the Los Angeles Times reports. One is whether voters can take away a right to gay marriage that already existed in California. Lawyers supporting gay marriage cited Romer v. Evans, the 1996 U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down a Colorado initiative that overturned gay rights laws. A decision based on taking away established rights could leave intact gay marriage bans in other states within the 9th Circuit, according to the Associated Press.
The other question is whether gay marriage opponents have standing. California’s governor and attorney general declined to appeal the trial’s judge’s ruling that the Proposition 8 referendum banning gay marriage violated equal protection guarantees. Panel members appeared doubtful whether Prop 8 sponsors had standing to appeal, but they also appeared worried about a ruling allowing state officials to effectively kill the voter referendum by refusing to defend it, the AP story says.
The Los Angeles Times spoke to the co-counsel in the Colorado case, Columbia University law professor Suzanne Goldberg. “It seems like the court is looking for ways it might strike down Proposition 8 without sending the marriage equality question to the U.S. Supreme Court,” she said.
C-Span covered the hearing. The Recorder and the San Jose Mercury News also have coverage of the arguments.
Prior coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Liberal Judge Refuses to Bow Out of Same-Sex Marriage Appeal, Despite Wife’s ACLU Past”
