9th Circuit Sends Prop. 8 Case Back To California Supreme Court On Certified Question

9th Circuit Court Punts Prop 8 To State Supreme Court On Standing
TM NOTE: This post has been front-paged from “In the News,” which was originally posted at 2:55 pm today. Joyce will begin a weekly posting this Saturday entitled “Queer Talk.” As you’ll see in the comment section, she took part in a Q&A by Adam Bink’s “Courage Campaign,” with updates added there. Via JoeMyGod, news that the court decision on California’s Prop 8 has been punted, and sent to the California State Supreme Court. Another one ...

NCLR Legal Analysis Of The Ninth Circuit Prop 8 Ruling
BLEND EXCLUSIVE: Trial analysis by the National Center For Lesbian Rights (NCLR) Attorney Shannon Minter. By Shannon Minter, Esq. National Center for Lesbian Rights Legal Director Today brings a new development in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the federal Constitutional Challenge to California's Proposition 8, which amended the California Constitution to strip same-sex couples of the freedom to marry. Perry is currently on appeal before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal appeals cou...

California Supreme Court: Cell Phone Searches Don't Need a Warrant
Awful 4th amendment decision yesterday in California that searching one's cell phone data does not require a warrant, in a time and place where a cell phone is more like a computer than a phone. Ars Technica with the details: The ruling comes as a result of the conviction of one Gregory Diaz, who was arrested for trying to sell ecstasy to a police informant in 2007 and had his phone confiscated when he arrived at the Police Station. The police eventually went through Diaz's Text Message folder ...

Appeals court turns to state on key Prop. 8 issue
(01-04) 18:36 PST San Francisco -- California's highest court, which has issued three rulings on same-sex marriage in less than seven years, was handed another crucial question Tuesday - whether sponsors of a voter-approved measure banning gay and Lesbian Weddings have the right to defend it in court. The state Supreme Court was brought into the fray by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which heard arguments last month about whether Proposition 8, the 2008 initiative ou...

Appeals court turns to state on key Prop. 8 issue
(01-04) 18:36 PST San Francisco -- California's highest court, which has issued three rulings on same-sex marriage in less than seven years, was handed another crucial question Tuesday - whether sponsors of a voter-approved measure banning gay and Lesbian Weddings have the right to defend it in court. The state Supreme Court was brought into the fray by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which heard arguments last month about whether Proposition 8, the 2008 initiative ou...

Appeals court turns to state on key Prop. 8 issue
(01-04) 18:36 PST San Francisco -- California's highest court, which has issued three rulings on same-sex marriage in less than seven years, was handed another crucial question Tuesday - whether sponsors of a voter-approved measure banning gay and Lesbian Weddings have the right to defend it in court. The state Supreme Court was brought into the fray by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which heard arguments last month about whether Proposition 8, the 2008 initiative ou...

New twist in California gay marriage legal battle
A US federal appeals court asked California's top tribunal Tuesday to help it rule on a challenge by opponents of same-sex marriages in the western US state. The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sent the question back to California's Supreme Court, asking it to rule on whether anti Gay Marriage campaigners have the right to challenge a decision last year legalizing gay unions. Supporters of so-called Prop 8 -- a 2008 Referendum measure which banned Gay Marriage in California -- took their fig...

Appeals court turns to state on key Prop. 8 issue
(01-04) 18:36 PST San Francisco -- California's highest court, which has issued three rulings on same-sex marriage in less than seven years, was handed another crucial question Tuesday - whether sponsors of a voter-approved measure banning gay and Lesbian Weddings have the right to defend it in court. The state Supreme Court was brought into the fray by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which heard arguments last month about whether Proposition 8, the 2008 initiative ou...

Gay-Marriage Brief Seeks Help in Prop. 8 Case
The three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals released a series of legal documents Tuesday that could shape the future of the case for and against Gay Marriage. Most importantly, the judges asked the California Supreme Court for advice on whether the sponsors of Prop. 8 should be allowed to have standing to defend the same-sex marriage ban against a federal challenge. You may remember that former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and former state Attorney General Jerry Brown both decli...

Breaking Prop 8 news: federal case punted by 9th circuit back to California Supreme Court
There's a lot of legalese to read through, but the short answer is that the Federal Court (9th circuit) is handing the case back to the California Supreme Court to determine whether the Protect Marriage crowd has standing to appeal. The brief: Calitics has a quick analysis up: A further reading of the document issued minutes ago by the 9th Circuit indicates that the court is ready to rule that Prop 8 proponents DO have standing to appeal. In turn, that would enable the 9th Circuit to decide ...

Prop 8: Back to the California Supreme Court
The fate of Prop 8 has moved through the federal legal system with relative speed --- until now. A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is kicking a dicey and important procedural question --- whether propopents of the California ban on same-sex marriage actually have standing to appeal --- to the state Supreme Court. They argue that it is better left to that court to provide clarity on a matter of state Constitutional Law. Last month, during oral arguments, they r...

Ninth Circuit Punts On Perry Prop 8; Certifies Standing To California
Liberty & Justice by Mirko Ilic We have unexpectedly quick news out of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on the Perry v. Schwarzenegger Proposition 8 marriage equality appeal. As you will recall, the case is in the 9th on appeal from the three week long evidentiary trial in the Northern District of California last January in front of Judge Vaughn Walker with closing arguments made on June 16 (summary of EW live coverage here) and Judge Walker’s opinion finding such marriage discrimina...

Appeals Court Says Cross on Federal Land Unconstitutional
The Memorial Cross at the center of a 22-year Legal Battle was ruled Unconstitutional on Tuesday by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Mount Soledad memorial cross, located in the desert near La Jolla, Calif., was built in 1952 to honor American Veterans of the Korean War. In its ruling the court said the 43-foot cross conveys a message of government Endorsement of religion that violates the Constitution. The American Civil Liberties Union has fought to have the cross removed. They have a...

Cross In Calif. Public Park Found Unconstitutional
A war Memorial Cross in a San Diego public park is Unconstitutional because it conveys a message of government Endorsement of religion, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday in a two-decade-old case. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the unanimous decision in the dispute over the 29-foot cross, which was dedicated in 1954 in honor of Korean War Veterans. The court said modifications could be made to make it constitutional, but it didn't specify what those change...

Young named Michigan Supreme Court's chief justice
A breakdown of the vote on the seven-member court was not immediately released. But Young, a nominee of the Republican Party, was widely expected to benefit from the GOP’s return to majority after the November election. Young was appointed to the state appeals court by former Gov. John Engler in 1995, and to the Supreme Court in 1999. Contact Dawson Bell: 517-372-8661 or [email protected]. ...

Appeals court asks for gay marriage guidance
San Francisco | Tue Jan 4, 2011 2:44pm EST San Francisco (Reuters) - A appeals court mulling California's Controversial Gay Marriage ban said on Tuesday it needs more legal guidance before it can decide the important constitutional issues at stake. California voters banned Gay Marriage in 2008 by approving so-called Proposition 8. But last year a federal District Court ruled the measure Unconstitutional. Supporters of the Gay Marriage ban appealed, but then-Attorney General and now Governor J...

Court: No Warrant Needed to Search Cells, Texts
Like this Story? Share it: Police can search an arrested suspect's cell phone Text Messages without a warrant, a California court ruled. (iStockphoto) (AP) San Francisco - The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that police do not need a warrant to search a cell phone carried by someone under arrest. The justices determined a Ventura County deputy had the right to conduct a warrantless search of the Text Messages of a man he had arrested on suspicion of participating in a Drug Deal. The sta...

Appeals court turns to state on key Prop. 8 issue
(01-04) 12:27 PST San Francisco -- The federal appeals court reviewing California's ban on same-sex marriage asked the state Supreme Court today to answer a legal question that may determine the outcome of the case - whether a Ballot Measure's sponsors can defend it in court when state officials refuse to do so. However, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco also made it clear how it believes the question should be answered - saying California would be "ill-served" if the sp...

What Now For Prop 8?
Timothy Kincaid runs through different scenarios. Bmaz at Firedoglake analyzes: [T]his California Supreme Court certification process is likely to take some time. Six months would be a miracle, a year is far more likely. First off, the California Supreme Court does not have to accept consideration, and there will be a briefing process on whether they even should do that. Assuming they then accept consideration on the merits, and I do think it extremely likely they will, there will then b...

Breaking news in Prop 8 trial
Proposition 8, the Controversial Gay Marriage ban approved by California voters in the November 2008 General Election, has been working its way through the courts.  Today the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals released its opinion on Prop 8 by asking the California Supreme Court to consider a matter of standing. Confused?  Court Cases can be hard to understand when different courts and various appeals are involved, so let's start with some background information to simplify what the l...

How Many Judges Does it Take to Make a Ruling on Gay Marriage?
Three appellate judges on the 9th Circuit are apparently not enough …….As promised during the hearing last month for Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the appellate panel wants to punt to the state Supreme Court for a very important ruling on whether the sponsors have standing to appeal. Then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and ex-Attorney General Jerry Brown refused to appeal a Federal Judge’s ruling in August that the measure unconstitutionally discriminated based on Sexual Orientation and...

In the Prop 8 case, the 9th Circuit panel has decided to ask the California Supreme Court to answer a key question of state law.
The state law question is whether the official proponents Prop 8 have "authority to assert the State’s interest in the initiative’s validity... when the public officials charged with that duty refuse to do so." This is the threshold standing question. Standing is a matter of federal Constitutional Law, but the 9th Circuit has apparently perceive an element of the issue to depend on state law, and it is seeking an authoritative interpretation of state law from the state's highest cou...

BREAKING: Ninth Circuit Court Sends Prop 8 To State Supreme Court On "Standing"
Here's the ruling. Analysis and reactions shortly. Labels: California, Ninth Circuit Court., Proposition 8 New! Share this on Facebook: Share ...

Birthright citizenship looms as next immigration battle
NOGALES, Ariz. -- Of the 50 or so women bused to this border town on a recent morning to be deported back to Mexico, Inez Vasquez, eight months pregnant, stood out. "All I want is a better life," she said after the Border Patrol discovered her hiding in the bushes on the Arizona side of the border with her husband, her young son and her very pronounced abdomen. The next big Immigration battle looming centers on Illegal Immigrants' offspring, who are granted automatic Citizenship like all other...

Breaking: 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Asks for Opinion from California Supreme Court on Standing Issue
UPDATE: Imperial County denied standing (see below). “Filed Order for PUBLICATION (STEPHEN R. REINHARDT, MICHAEL DALY HAWKINS and N. RANDY SMITH) for certification to California State Supreme Court. Before this panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is an appeal concerning the constitutionality under the United States Constitution of Article I, § 7.5 of the California Constitution (“Proposition 8”). Because we cannot consider this important cons...