Gender & Sexuality Law Blog

  The defenders of Proposition 8 have officially filed for en banc review in the 9th Circuit. This means that they’re pursuing a strategy of appealing to a larger panel of intermediate appellate judges in California before appealing to the Supreme Court. The consequence of this maneuver is that the U.S. Supreme Court will not […]

Rainbow flags and corsages were waving high in front of the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village last night.  There’s much to celebrate about the 9th Circuit’s ruling issued yesterday confirming the lower court finding that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional.  As I noted yesterday and Nan Hunter pointed out as well in her reading of the […]

The 9th Circuit just issued its decision in the Prop 8 case, upholding by a vote of 2-1 the lower court’s finding that Prop 8 was unconstitutional.  They did so, importantly, on very narrow grounds – resting the holding on the specific facts and circumstances surrounding the passage of Proposition 8.  They made clear that […]

This just in: Judge James Ware, acting very quickly after oral argument yesterday, has just issued a thoughtful opinion denying the ludicrous and offensive motion made by the Perry defendants that the trial opinion in the case be thrown out on account of the purported bias of the trial judge, Vaughn Walker (now retired).  The […]

This just in from the district court in San Francisco on the next steps in the Perry v. Schwarzenegger case: The Perry v. Schwarzenneger hearing will commence at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, June 13, 2011, in Courtroom 10, 19th Floor, in the Phillip Burton Federal Building and United States Courthouse, San Francisco. Chief District Court […]

Judge Stephen Reinhardt, the most liberal member of the panel that heard the appeal in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, filed a separate opinion concurring in the court’s standing decision issued yesterday.  A couple things are interesting about Judge Reinhardt’s concurrence: 1. He understood the court in this case to have a uniquely broad audience, given the […]

The 9th Circuit just issued a ruling in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the Prop 8 case, sending the question of standing over to the California Supreme Court.  Since the question of standing is a matter of state law, the court reasoned, and the state law isn’t clear, they sent it over to the California Supreme Court […]

Suzanne Goldberg and I sat through the entire two hours of the Prop 8 argument yesterday – we had it broadcast for faculty and students in three different places in the law school.  If you missed it, you can watch it or read the transcript here. Goldberg was riveted by the first hour on standing.  […]

Judge Stephen Reinhardt ruled moments ago on a motion filed by the Perry v. Schwarzenegger defendants, the supporters of Prop 8, that he should recuse himself from the three-judge panel that will hear the case next Monday, December 6th.  He denied the motion. We’ll be live-streaming the arguments on Monday at 1:00 for faculty and […]

The 9th Circuit announced on Monday that oral arguments set for December 6 in the Proposition 8 lawsuit will begin with the question of whether supporters of the ballot measure have standing to appeal the case. The court will divide oral arguments into two hour-long sessions. The first hour will center on the issue of […]