News (USA)

Prop 8 backer’s motion to void ruling ‘fast tracked,’ hearing set for June 13

Prop 8 backer’s motion to void ruling ‘fast tracked,’ hearing set for June 13

The U.S. District Court for Northern California issued a “fast-track” order in the Proposition 8 case, and has scheduled a June 13 hearing to consider a motion to have ruling in the case thrown out because the trial judge in the case is gay.

Supporters of California’s Proposition 8 — the voter approved ban on gay marriage, that was later declared unconstitutional — are seeking to have the ruling voided because the federal judge that presided over the case is gay, and did not disclose he was in a long-term, same-sex relationship.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

In a court filing, the sponsors of the ban on gay marriage, ProtectMarriage, asked the chief judge of the federal court in San Francisco to nullify last August’s ruling by former U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker, who retired earlier this year.

ProtectMarriage said Walker should have disclosed his involvement with his male partner before presiding over the marriage trial because it constituted a conflict of interest.

“Judge Walker’s 10-year-long same-sex relationship creates the unavoidable impression that he was not the impartial judge the law requires,” ProtectMarriage argued in the legal filing.

Earlier this month, Walker — now retired — confirmed for the first time publicly that his is gay, although it was widely known before the trial began.

Walker said he never considered his own homosexuality a reason to recuse himself from the case.

Court and legal analysts have said that it is highly unlikely that ProtectMarriage’s bid to have Walker’s ruling vacated will succeed.

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