U.S. appeals court seems unlikely to dismiss ruling against Prop. 8
A federal appeals court appeared unlikely Thursday to throw out a ruling against Proposition 8, the 2008 California measure that banned gay marriage, on the grounds the judge was in an undisclosed, long term same-sex relationship.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has been examining Proposition 8 for more than a year, also seemed reluctant to make public the videotapes of the historic, 12-day trial on Proposition 8’s constitutionality.
The panel met for two hours Thursday to hear peripheral issues in the fight over same-sex marriage: whether last year’s ruling against Proposition 8 should be nullified because the judge was in a committed gay relationship and whether the videotapes of the trial should be unsealed.
-- Maura Dolan, Los Angeles Times
Photo: From left, Judges Michael Daly Hawkins, Stephen Reinhardt and Randy Smith arrive at the bench to hear arguments on Proposition 8. Credit: Robert Gauthier, Los Angeles Times / December 8, 2011