Peon's Place

Seriously. Can we stop over-ruling the decision and people of California for once?

A federal appeals court in San Francisco has blocked same-sex marriage in California, until it hears broader questions over the constitutionality of such marriages. The brief order from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals set aside a federal judge’s decision August 4 permitting same-sex marriages to resume.

If you have not heard from earlier, California stated that gay marriage will begin again August 18th.

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage last week, ruling that voter-approved Proposition 8 violates the U.S. Constitution. Walker had issued a temporary stay on his decision, which on Thursday he said he would lift.

The high-profile case is being watched closely by supporters and opponents of same-sex marriage, as many say it is likely to make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. If it does, the case could result in a landmark decision on whether people in the United States are allowed to marry others of the same sex.

Same-sex marriage is legal in five U.S. states and in the District of Columbia, while civil unions are permitted in New Jersey. The five states are Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Iowa and New Hampshire.

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker has ruled Proposition 8 is unconstitutional “under both the due-process and equal-protection” clauses. His verdict comes in response to a lawsuit brought by two same-sex couples and the city of San Francisco seeking to invalidate the law as an unlawful infringement on the civil rights of gay men and lesbians.

Proposition 8, which outlawed gay marriages in California five months after the state Supreme Court legalized them, passed with 52 percent of the vote in November 2008 following the most expensive campaign on a social issue in U.S. history. Attorneys on both sides have said an appeal was certain if Walker did not rule in their favor. The case would go first to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals then the Supreme Court if the high court justices agree to review it.

Read the rest of this entry » Prop 8 ruled as Unconstit...

A San Francisco federal judge tomorrow will issue a much anticipated ruling in the Proposition 8 trial, a decision that will be a first step in a long legal process to decide whether California’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage violates the federal constitution.

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker will release the ruling without holding a hearing, typical in deciding most cases. Bay Area federal court officials announced the scheduled release of the much-anticipated decision in a brief order today.

Walker in January conducted an unprecedented trial in January in the challenge to Proposition 8, which restored the state’s ban on the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry. He heard closing arguments in June, and now will decide the outcome of a lawsuit that maintains the same-sex marriage ban violates the equal protection rights of gay and lesbian couples.

Either way the judge decides, the losing side is expected to appeal the ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Most legal experts expect the case to ultimately be decided in the U.S. Supreme Court.

California employees, be ready to take more time off from work. But hey, at least he is making attempts to fix our state’s economic crisis. No one else seems to have the cajones to do it. Until our people can agree on a budget, I sort of feel that he has the right to put us on a less draining path until one is laid out for us.

Read the rest of this entry » Governator declares ̶...

A former police officer who is white was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter Thursday in the killing of an unarmed black man in Oakland, California.

Johannes Mehserle, who was a Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer at the time of the incident, was convicted in the shooting of 22-year-old Oscar Grant on a California train platform on January 1, 2009. Mehserle, who was on duty at the time, said at the trial that he intended to draw and fire his Taser rather than his gun, CNN affiliate KTVU reported.

The shooting was captured on a bystander’s cell-phone video camera. The video was widely circulated, and it spurred several protests and riots in and around Oakland.