Judges comprise the third branch of government. Increasingly, their impact on social and family issues has taken on critical importance. This section includes all the topics that concern judges and judging: nominations, appointments, elections, qualifications, removal, judicial philosophy, and constitutional constraints.
ProtectMarriage.com, the legal team defending the California marriage amendment known as Prop. 8, announced this afternoon that they are appealing the case to a retinue of judges at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, rather than going straight to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On Feb. 7, a three-judge panel from the 9th struck Prop. 8 down, reasoning that since the California Supreme Court had previously extended marriage to same-sex couples in the state, the 2008 voter initiative to keep the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman unconstitutionally revoked a “right.”
“This gives the 9th Circuit, the entire 9th Circuit, a chance to correct this really anomalous decision by just two judges overturning the votes of seven million Californians,” said Andy Pugno, general counsel for ProtectMarriage.com. “When there are bad decisions, we have to deal with those and build a record so that we have a full record and all the legal arguments in front of the Supreme Court.”
read moreIn an effort to avoid being overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court yet again, Judge Stephen Reinhardt, the author of the majority opinion in this week’s 9th Circuit ruling, says that he’s “limiting” this decision to California because of the unique set of facts involved. We need not and do not answer the broader question [...]
read more
Help us protect families
and family values.
NOTE: Referral to websites not produced by CitizenLink is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of the sites' content.