In an unsurprising ruling, a judge in San Francisco ruled today that Judge Vaughn Walker being a gay man was not something that needed to be revealed during the trial and was not reason for Judge Walker to recuse himself. The proponents of Proposition 8 had argued that Judge Walker should only have been allowed to rule on the case if he publicly disavowed any interest in getting married to his same sex partner. However, Judge Ware responded to that argument with the following:
“The presumption that Judge Walker, by virtue of being in a same-sex relationship, had a desire to be married that rendered him incapable of making an impartial decision, is as warrantless as the presumption that a female judge is incapable of being impartial in a case in which women seek legal relief. On the contrary: it is reasonable to presume that a female judge or a judge in a same-sex relationship is capable of rising above any personal predisposition and deciding such a case on the merits.”
You could continue to show the ridiculousness of the argument made by the proponents of Prop 8 by carrying the argument through to its logical end. No person who is able to procreate should be allowed to rule on a case involving abortion as they may at some point find themselves where either they themselves are getting an abortion or their wife, girlfriend, mistress, etc. want to get an abortion. No person should be allowed to rule on a case involving free speech rights as they themselves may be influenced by the decision and their ability to use their free speech. I could go on and on.
There was nothing really surprising in this ruling, just another step along the lawsuit over Prop 8.
For those who have lost track the next steps in the lawsuit are for the California Supreme Court to way in on the standing issue about who is allowed to defend Prop 8. Oral arguments on this are expected sometime in September with an opinion released within 90 days. After the standing issue has been resolved it is back to the federal appeals court for arguments and their decision.