Stay-whaaaaat?

So gays are getting married in California tomorrow right?

Not so fast, says the 9th Circuit Court.

Judge Walker’s decision from his Northern California district Federal Court initially had no sort of limit blocking its immediate effect. Stories of savvy and well-prepared lesbian couples sliding a quick wedding in under the wire wafted over from California–though none were confirmed to my knowledge. However, Judge Walker quickly implemented a temporary stay on his August 4th decision within hours–a rule that prevents a Judge’s decision from going into effect right away. He asked for arguments from both sides about whether or not to lift the stay.

Prop 8 supporters wanted a stay to preserve the status quo and prevent any more same-sex couples from marrying. The Plaintiffs argued against it, saying the ruling should take immediate effect and there would be no harm done to the defendants if it did go into immediate effect.

All of this was playing out as the Defendants in Perry V Schwarzenegger–the folks who love to hate gays–were preparing to appeal Walker’s decision in the next highest court, the 9th Circuit Court of appeals. The 9th Circuit is an appellate court that covers a handful of Western states that folks can appeal their cases to when they don’t like their Federal Court’s decision. The next court of appeals above the 9th Circuit is the United States Supreme Court, and there ain’t nothin’ after that.

On August 12, Judge Walker announced he would be lifting his stay, setting it to expire August 18th.

However, the Defendants took their request for a stay to the 9th Circuit and Monday August 16th, the 9th Court put a hold on Judge Walker’s decision. Yet, they also fast-tracked the appeal, demanding all arguments be filed much quicker than expected, and setting a hearing for early December. This means that if Meg Whitman wins Governor of California, she’s not going to be very involved in the case. That’s good news–the court could throw the case out before she even has a chance to intervene.

We hope that doesn’t happen. We hope Jerry Brown becomes Governor of California. Jerry Brown refused to defend Prop 8 in Court. Neither did Governor Schwarzenegger. When neither the Governor nor the State of California–represented by Brown–would defend the law in court, not only was it a bold and progressive move by two allies, but it also threw the case into a curious legal limbo that will make it less likely to be successful in the 9th or the Supreme Court.

The “Defendants” in the case don’t exactly meet the muster of what a “Defendant” ought to be in a case–which may lead the 9th Circuit to throw out the appeal. However, if they do, Walker’s decision will only have effect in California. Likewise, if the 9th Circuit gives the Defense “standing” and still uphold Walker’s decision, but the Supreme Court does not give them standing, the decision would only take effect in the states within the 9th Circuit.

However, if either of the two courts overturn Judge Walker’s decision, we will instead have a very sad situation on our hands. Judge Walker’s decision will go into effect nowhere.

The perfect situation, however, would be that the Supreme Court upholds Judge Walker’s decision that barring marriage is unconstitutional–leading to marriage equality being the law of the land.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 17th, 2010 at 5:26 am and is filed under Politics & Activism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.