Distilling the Prop 8 marriage equality case

June 29, 2010

Posted by Maura Dolan on latimes.com:

"Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker was supposed to be a bit player in Perry vs. Schwarzenegger, a federal constitutional challenge of the Proposition 8 ban on the freedom to marry.

"Lawyers on both sides of the case viewed his federal courtroom in San Francisco as little more than a launching pad where they would argue fine points of constitutional law before the case moved to the appeals bench and eventually to the Supreme Court.

"But the iconoclastic U.S. District Court judge had something else in mind: a full-blown nonjury trial to test assumptions about whether gays were inferior parents, whether marriage equality hurt straight marriage and whether sexual orientation was changeable.

"Walker's intentions took lawyers on both sides by surprise, but those who know the lanky, silver-haired jurist said it was fitting that he would want to gather facts on an issue that tends to be viewed with considerable emotion.

"'The one characteristic of Judge Walker that separates him from some other judges is that he loves to come up with a twist or a new idea that the parties haven't thought of,' said Rory Little, a professor at UC Hastings Law School. 'He is a very creative thinker.'

"The Republican appointee will soon fire the first volley in the federal legal battle over the freedom to marry. Walker's written decision, based on testimony he has heard, will become the foundation on which higher courts build.

"Initially dubious about a trial, gay rights lawyers quickly saw advantages to Walker's plan. Indeed, the 2 1/2 weeks of often moving testimony in January substantially bolstered opponents of Proposition 8."

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