Queer Town: Prop. 8 Closing Arguments Still Not Scheduled
The Proposition 8 federal trial in San Francisco is coming into the homestretch, but lawyers for both sides of the possibly historic case are still waiting to give their closing arguments.
Under deadline last Friday, attorneys filed legal papers with the court, which once again laid out arguments for and against California's gay marriage ban.
But U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker has yet to set a date for lawyers to show up in court to bring it all home with closing remarks.
Walker has said he plans to question lawyers during that time.
If the judge finds in favor of the plaintiffs, who want to overturn Prop. 8, both sides of the gay marriage fight wonder if he will come down with such a wide-sweeping decision that other anti-gay laws may be affected, such as the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
The timing is still in question, but Walker could possibly rule around the time of the second anniversary of a California State Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage in California on May 15, 2008, for a number of months.
That decision brought about Proposition 8, which banned same sex marriage again.
Contact Patrick Range McDonald at pmcdonald@laweekly.com.
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| Patrick Range McDonald |
| Prop. 8 protestor at Los Angeles Mormon Temple in November, 2008. |
Under deadline last Friday, attorneys filed legal papers with the court, which once again laid out arguments for and against California's gay marriage ban.
But U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker has yet to set a date for lawyers to show up in court to bring it all home with closing remarks.
Walker has said he plans to question lawyers during that time.
Previous news reports predicted the judge would schedule a day in
March.
Court watchers are certainly anxious about how Walker may rule.If the judge finds in favor of the plaintiffs, who want to overturn Prop. 8, both sides of the gay marriage fight wonder if he will come down with such a wide-sweeping decision that other anti-gay laws may be affected, such as the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
The timing is still in question, but Walker could possibly rule around the time of the second anniversary of a California State Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage in California on May 15, 2008, for a number of months.
That decision brought about Proposition 8, which banned same sex marriage again.
Contact Patrick Range McDonald at pmcdonald@laweekly.com.
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