California Federal Court Judge Sets Proposition 8 Trial Date
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Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, a U.S. federal judge has scheduled the date for trial for Jan. 11 on the constitutionality of California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage. (Proposition 8) This is the first such trial on that issue in any federal court.
San Francisco City's request to join the case against the ballot measure was approved by Judge Vaughn Walker, while denying intervention on the defense side by the Campaign for California Families, which had tried to unsuccessfully to present the Prop. 8 initiative to outlaw same-sex domestic partnerships as well as same-sex marriage told Walker that the official sponsors of Prop. 8 had already made too many concessions to gay-rights advocates in the past.
The decision announced on Wednesday to hold a bench trial on whether Proposition 8 violates gays' and lesbians' rights to equality under the law is a tactical victory for opponents of the November 2008 Prop. 8 initiative, who say that experts and other witnesses to be present can help them to show that Prop. 8 was rooted in anti-gay bias and should be struck down.
Sponsors of the ballot measure had opposed a trial, saying that legal precedents and many studies about parents and children easily demonstrate that California voters had reasonable grounds to add a traditional definition of marriage to the California state Constitution.
The defenses lawyer, Charles Cooper did not argue against a trial at Wednesday's hearing and said only that he would try to narrow its scope.
Walker scheduled a hearing Oct. 14th, 2009 on pretrial legal disputes, which are likely to include the standards for assessing discrimination under the Constitution and the relevance of the campaigns both for and against Prop. 8.
The results of the initiative are being challenged in federal court by two same-sex couples represented by Theodore Olson and David Boies, best known as the lawyers for President George W. Bush and Al Gore, respectively, in the Supreme Court case that ultimately decided the 2000 presidential election.
A gay-rights organizations that challenged Prop. 8 in the California state Supreme Court case initially steered clear of the lawsuit, reluctant to raise federal constitutional arguments that could end up reaching a conservative U.S. Supreme Court. But later asked to join the case as co-plaintiffs, which would give them a voice in any case strategy and possible appeals.
Olson and Boies vigorously opposed the request, accusing the organizations of trying to usurp their case. Walker denied intervention on Wednesday, saying the original plaintiffs could argue the case and that adding these as parties would only slow the proceedings down.
The judge allowed intervention by the City of San Francisco, which had also challenged Prop. 8 in the state court case. He said the city brings a unique perspective to the case, with its claims that denying marriage to same-sex couples leads to higher government costs in health care and social services.
Walker stressed, however, that Olson and Boies would handle the bulk of the case against Prop. 8 and that the city should cooperate with them.
