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BREAKING: City and County of San Francisco files response brief to 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
By Eden James
The City and County of San Francisco, an official plaintiff in the Prop 8 case, just filed its response brief to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, per today’s deadline set by the court. Here is the document, as Scribd by Kathleen:
The American Foundation for Equal Rights is expected to file their response brief before today’s deadline as well.
Trial Trackers, please read through the City’s brief and let us know what you think in the comments. Any nuggets that stand out and are worth greater attention?
90 Comments October 18, 2010
BREAKING: Judge Vaughn Walker announces retirement
By Eden James
This just in from Lisa Leff at the AP:
Judge Vaughn Walker
The federal judge who ruled that California’s gay marriage ban is unconstitutional says he is stepping down from the bench.
The San Francisco-based federal court says Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker notified President Barack Obama by letter on Wednesday that he will leave the court in February.
Walker did not state why he was stepping down. Matthew Bajko of the Bay Area Reporter quotes Walker:
“Concluding 21 years of judicial service, I leave the bench with the highest respect and regard for the federal judiciary, its judges and their staff and the essential role they fulfill in our constitutional system.”
As the Judge Walker’s adjudication of the Prop 8 trial is over, this does not appear to have any impact on the case now before the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
More to come as news develops.
72 Comments September 29, 2010
Read ‘em, weep, laugh, and discuss: All 27 Prop 8 case amicus briefs filed in support of Appellants to the 9th Circuit
by Eden James
The byline on this post should be “Kathleen Perrin,” actually.
On the last day that amicus briefs could be filed in support of the Appellents, the amazing Kathleen spent her Friday night uploading all of them to Scribd and posting them in the comments to last night’s breaking news on Maj. Margaret Witt. Then she compiled them all and emailed them to me, as well as posting them on the Prop 8 Trial Trackers page on Facebook.
So, with some further adieu, below is the list of all 26 27 amicus briefs submitted in support of Appellants to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that is reviewing the Prop 8 decision by Judge Vaughn Walker. Amicus briefs for Plaintiffs will be due one week after plaintiffs’ answer brief is submitted. The due date for the plaintiffs’ answer brief is October 18.
You’ll notice a few of our, er, friends from the anti-equality crowd in the briefs. It’s a Who’s Who, from the National Organization for Marriage and NARTH to Concerned Women for America and the Pacific Justice Institute.
If folks are up for it, the community could crowdsource reading these briefs, for the benefit of all involved, following Alan E.’s lead on the FRC amicus brief. I know many of you already started diving in, as the voluminous 400-comments-and-counting Witt thread demonstrated, but if you would like go more in-depth, go ahead and divvy up the briefs in the comments, read them, analyze them and share your thoughts in the comments. Then we’ll post some of the most incisive commentary on the front page.
Jeremy Hooper got started on this one: 13 states, including Indiana, Virginia, Louisiana, Michigan, Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Idaho, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, and Wyoming, filed a brief saying that Judge Walker “exceeded (his) judicial authority.”
UPDATE: NOM sent in a revised brief late last night and Kathleen just got it up on Scribd. She says the only differences she could find between the two documents is a revision on pg 33 (pdf pg 40), paragraph 1, and the inclusion of two pages in the replacement document not in the original: pdf pages 43 and 45, Certificates of Service and Compliance. If anyone finds additional differences, let her know:
All 26 amicus briefs, including the one above, are in the extended entry. Just click…
247 Comments September 25, 2010
