BREAKING: Ninth Circuit Court Sends Prop 8 To State Supreme Court On "Standing"

Ninth Circuit Sends Proposition 8 Lawsuit To California Supreme Court
As I speculated when they heard oral argument in this case last month, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has sent the case challenging the...

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...

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...

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 ...

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...

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 ...

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...

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...

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...

Prop. 8: Right-to-appeal issue looms
Ninth Circuit Court, in a preliminary move before ruling on California’s ban on same-sex marriage, asks the California Supreme Court for some legal advice on state law. The Ninth Circuit Court, putting off for the time being a ruling on the constitutionality of a state’s ban on same-sex marriage, on Tuesday asked the California Supreme Court to clarify state law on a core procedural dispute in the case.  The issue is whether the backers of so-called “Proposition 8″ h...

Prop 8 Case Sent to California Supreme Court
The Wall Street Journal reports: Well, a funny thing happened while the Proposition 8 case was on its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. On Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit kicked the case sideways, over to the California Supreme Court. The court, in this 18-page opinion, ruled that it needed clarification from California’s highest court on a point of law before it could go forward with its review of the case. Specifically, the Ninth Circuit wants California justices to clarify ...

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...

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...

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Punts Proposition 8 Appeal To California Supreme Court
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Punts Proposition 8 Appeal To California Supreme Court Moments ago, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals punted the appeal of Judge Vaughn Walker’s historic ruling against Proposition 8 — a ballot proposition in California that prohibited same-sex couples from marrying in the state — to the California Supreme Court, noting that it could not rule on the constitutionality of the measure until the higher court confirmed the standing of the plaintiff...

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 ...

9th Circuit Sends Prop. 8 Case Back To California Supreme Court On Certified Question
I just received an automated e-mail from the 9th Circuit, as follows (emphasis mine): 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 co...

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...

Appeals Court Seeks Guidance In Gay Marriage Case
A federal appeals court said Tuesday it cannot decide if California's Gay Marriage ban is constitutional until the state's highest court weighs in on whether Proposition 8's sponsors have the authority to defend the measure. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order asking the California Supreme Court to decide if the backers of ballot propositions can step in to defend voter-approved initiatives in court when state officials refuse to do so. The High Court doe...

Prop 8 Case: Appeals Court Asks CA Supreme Court For Help
A federal appeals court has asked the California Supreme Court to help answer a question about who has standing to fight same sex marriage in the courts. At issue is whether the anti-gay groups who put Proposition 8 on the ballot in California have the legal standing to appeal a decision that Prop 8 -- which outlaws same sex marriage in the state -- is Unconstitutional. Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is hearing that appeal, asked the California High Court to decide whether t...

9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Rules Public Park Cross Unconstitutional
SAN DIEGO (AP) — 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 didn̵...

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...

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...

Prop 8 Case Sent To California Supreme Court
San Francisco — A federal appeals court says it can't decide if California's Gay Marriage ban is constitutional until the state's highest court weighs in on whether Proposition 8's sponsors have the authority to defend the ban. In a brief order filed Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals asked the California Supreme Court to decide if the backers of ballot propositions can step in to defend voter-approved measures in court when state officials refuse to do...