By George Whitten, Worthy News International Correspondent
SAN FRANCISCO (Worthy News)– The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit placed an indefinite hold on California same-sex marriages Monday, overruling the order of U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker who paved the way for such unions to start on Wednesday.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, whom critics have labeled as the most liberal appeals court in the nation, issued its ruling without explanation in a short, two-page order that imposed a stay on U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker’s Aug. 4 decision which attempted to strike down the voter-approved Proposition 8.
California voters passed Proposition 8, which places a ban on homosexual marriage, through California State constitutional amendment in November 2008. This came five months after the state’s Supreme Court legalized homosexual marriage.
The court granted a motion filed by the ProtectMarriage.com legal team that asked the court to stay the Aug. 4 decision until the appellate court has ample time to hear the case.
“It made no sense to impose a radical change in marriage on the people of California before all appeals on their behalf are heard,” said Alliance Defense Fund’s Litigation Staff counsel Jim Campbell. “Refusing to stay the decision would only have created more legal confusion surrounding any same-sex unions entered while the appeal is pending. This case has just begun. ADF and the rest of the legal team are confident that the right of Americans to protect marriage in their state constitutions will ultimately be upheld.”
In granting the motion, the 9th Circuit court agreed to expedite its consideration of the Prop 8 case. The opening brief is due by Sept. 17 and the oral argument to be heard the week of Dec. 6.
Same-sex marriage activists were disappointed by the decision, however they were pleased that the appeal would be heard more quickly than they had anticipated.
“I think the court realized the importance of this case and expedited it,” Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, the state’s largest gay civil rights organization told the San Francisco Chronicle. “Normally, the Ninth Circuit court takes a year and a half to decide an issue, but this one they’ve indicated they want done in months.”
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