Tag Archives: State: California

Jason Mazzone at Balkinization: By finding Proposition 8 to violate the Equal Protection Clause solely on the ground that it withdrew the right of marriage that gays and lesbians previously possessed in California (as a result the earlier state supreme court’s decision), Perry v. Brown produces a curious result. It appears to leave Proposition 8 partially intact.

The Editors – National Review Online: It’s not a good sign when a 77-page judicial opinion contains a falsehood in its first sentence. Judge Stephen Reinhardt, the most notorious liberal activist on the oft-overturned Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, begins his opinion for the 2–1 majority in the California same-sex-marriage case, Perry v. Brown, thus . . .

Dale Carpenter at the Volokh Conspiracy: In contrast to Judge Walker’s maximalist opinion striking down Prop 8, it’s generally accepted that Judge Reinhardt’s opinion was minimalist. There’s a commonsense way in which the opinion is not at all minimalist.

Attorney Andrew Pugno and opposing counsel Ted Olson appeared on KPCC 89.3 (C. Cal. Public Radio) to discuss the ruling. | MP3 audio 12:22 mins

ADF Attorney Joe Infranco and John Eastman, Chairman of the Board of the National Organization for Marriage appeared on Ave Maria Radio with Al Kresta to discuss the ruling. | MP3 audio 13:08 mins

ADF Attorney Dale Schowengerdt appeared on several radio shows to discuss the Prop. 8 ruling. | The Drew Mariani Show - MP3 audio 11:40 mins | WSHO in New Orleans with Kathleen Benfield – MP3 audio 16:13 mins | The Victoria Taft Show - MP3 audio 7:56 mins

Inside Bay Area: Austin Nimocks, a senior lawyer for the Alliance Defense Fund, one of the groups defending the law, would not reveal the strategic considerations, but promised: “We will do something. I can guarantee that.”

Sacramento Bee: roposition 8 backers are already dismissing the ruling as the work of a liberal appeals court. As Brian Raum, a lawyer for the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, said in a statement, “We are not surprised that this Hollywood-orchestrated attack on marriage – tried in San Francisco – turned out this way.” But before they engage in the usual stereotyping of the 9th Circuit, Proposition 8 proponents might want to carefully examine the legal precedents the appeals court relied upon in handing down its decision.

Pueblo Chieftain: Brian Raum, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund that helped defend Proposition 8 in court, noted, “We are not surprised that this Hollywood-orchestrated attack on marriage — tried in San Francisco — turned out this way. But we are confident that the expressed will of the American people in favor of marriage will be upheld at the Supreme Court.”

Daniel B. Wood at Christian Science Monitor at Yahoo! News: The Alliance Defense Fund, which helped to defend Prop. 8 in court, has not divulged its plans, but senior counsel Brian Raum has said the group expects to make a decision “in due time.”

Baptist Press (includes video of Alan Sears): Alliance Defense Fund attorney Dale Schowengerdt said that while the decision’s outcome was more narrow than Walker’s, its reasoning in striking down Prop 8 was broad. “It’s not a narrow ruling in many regards,” Schowengerdt told Baptist Press. “The court basically said there’s no legitimate reason to define marriage as the union between a man and a woman. The court said Proposition 8 was supported by nothing but animus.”

San Francisco Chronicle (Bloomberg): “We are not surprised that this Hollywood-orchestrated attack on marriage — tried in San Francisco — turned out this way,” Brian Raum, an attorney for proponents and senior counsel at the legal group Alliance Defense Fund, said in an e-mail. “But we are confident that the expressed will of the American people in favor of marriage will be upheld at the Supreme Court.”

NCRegister.com: till, whenever marriage has been put to a vote, Americans overwhelmingly reject the idea of changing its definition. Alliance Defense Fund senior counsel Brian Raum said that “63 million Americans in 31 state elections have voted on marriage, and 63% voted to preserve marriage as the timeless, universal, unique union between husband and wife.”

News from The Associated Press: A nonprofit legal firm, Liberty Institute in Washington, D.C., planned to file its petition Thursday . . .

Education News: A bill sponsored by California Assemblyman Tony Mendoza that makes it easier for school districts to block charter schools has passed through the Assembly.

NY Daily News: The lesbians who became the poster couple for gays seeking to marry in California are now doing what countless straight couples have done before them — they’re splitting up.

Ilya Somin at The Volokh Conspiracy: Today’s Ninth Circuit decision striking down California’s Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage is unpersuasive because it claims that the law fails to meet even minimal “rational basis” scrutiny. Eugene Volokh does a good job of explaining why.

Orin Kerr at The Volokh Conspiracy: I have no idea what the Supreme Court might do in the Perry case. But my own sense is that Judges Walker and Reinhardt are not quite as clever as some people seem to think. Or, at the very least, the reasoning of their opinions don’t really matter very much.

CBS News: Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich on Tuesday decried the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for striking down California’s Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage — both of them targeting the judiciary system for invoking what Gingrich described as a “radical overreach” of power.

The Hill: “Today’s decision by the 9th Circuit is another in a long line of radical activist rulings by this rogue circuit – and it is precisely why I have called for that circuit to be abolished and split up,” Santorum said in a statement Tuesday. “Marriage is defined and has always been defined as ‘one man and one woman.’ We simply cannot allow 50 different definitions of marriage.”

College Times – Arizona State University (McClatchy): Brian Raum, a lawyer for the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, a supporter of Proposition 8, said in a prepared statement, “We are not surprised that this Hollywood-orchestrated attack on marriage — tried in San Francisco — turned out this way. But we are confident that the expressed will of the American people in favor of marriage will be upheld at the Supreme Court.”

Cal. Coast News: The court allowed time for proponents of the ban to file an appeal before the decision takes the force of law. Spokesmen for one such group, the Alliance Defense Fund, said an appeal would be forthcoming to the 9th Circuit’s full complement.

OneNewsNow.com: Thomasson expects the case to land in the nation’s highest court, with Justice Anthony Kennedy casting the deciding vote. In fact, Alliance Defense Fund says it will do exactly that (see accompanying video of ADF general counsel Alan Sears). [Brian Raum also quoted]

Rocky Mountain Collegian (MCT Howard Mintz): “No court should presume to redefine marriage,” said Brian Raum, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund. “We are not surprised that this Hollywood-orchestrated attack on marriage — tried in San Francisco — turned out this way. But we are confident that the expressed will of the American people in favor of marriage will be upheld in the Supreme Court.”

Desert Sun (includes video): In a statement, ADF Senior Counsel Brian Raum called Tuesday’s ruling a “Hollywood-orchestrated attack on marriage.”
“No court should presume to redefine marriage. No court should undercut the democratic process by taking the power to preserve marriage out of the hands of the people,” Raum said.

Religion News Services on Christian Century: “No court should presume to redefine marriage. No court should undercut the democratic process by taking the power to preserve marriage out of the hands of the people,” said Brian Raum, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, which is representing an umbrella group of Prop 8 supporters known as ProtectMarriage.com.

USCCB: “Our society does not operate in an amoral or value-less vacuum,” said Bishop Salvatore Cordileone of Oakland, chairman of the Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage. “To flourish, it must be infused with moral direction that is grounded in the truth. Of course, the true meaning of marriage, like the gift of human life, is ultimately not subject to a vote or court ruling. But in California, as in every other state where marriage has been put to a vote, the people justly upheld the truth of marriage. How tragic for California, for the nation, and especially for children, that this correctly-informed judgment has now been set aside.”

CNA: “No court should presume to redefine marriage,” Alliance Defense Fund senior counsel Brian Raum said Feb. 7. “No court should undercut the democratic process by taking the power to preserve marriage out of the hands of the people.”

Businessweek (Bloomberg): We are not surprised that this Hollywood-orchestrated attack on marriage — tried in San Francisco — turned out this way,” Brian Raum, an attorney for proponents and senior counsel at the legal group Alliance Defense Fund, said in an e-mail. “But we are confident that the expressed will of the American people in favor of marriage will be upheld at the Supreme Court.”

San Jose Mercury News: “We are not surprised that this Hollywood-orchestrated attack on marriage — tried in San Francisco — turned out this way,” Brian Raum, a spokesman for the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian non-profit, said it a widely e-mailed statement. “But we are confident that the expressed will of the American people in favor of marriage will be upheld at the Supreme Court. Every pro-marriage American should be pleased that this case can finally go to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Elizabeth Weise and Joan Biskupic at USATODAY.com (includes video): “No court should presume to redefine marriage. No court should undercut the democratic process by taking the power to preserve marriage out of the hands of the people,” said Brian Raum, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal aid group that helped defend Proposition 8.

Lisa Leff at Connecticut Post (AP) (includes video): “We are not surprised that this Hollywood-orchestrated attack on marriage — tried in San Francisco — turned out this way. But we are confident that the expressed will of the American people in favor of marriage will be upheld at the Supreme Court,” said Brian Raum, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal aid group based in Arizona that helped defend Proposition 8.

Independent: “We are not surprised that this Hollywood-orchestrated attack on marriage – tried in San Francisco – turned out this way,” said Brian Raum, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal aid group that helped defend the ban.

The Washington Post: “We are not surprised that this Hollywood-orchestrated attack on marriage — tried in San Francisco — turned out this way. But we are confident that the expressed will of the American people in favor of marriage will be upheld at the Supreme Court.” Brian Raum, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal aid group that helped defend the ban.

Episcopal News Service: According to a statement posted on the website of the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian legal foundation that backed Proposition 8, the group was not surprised that “this Hollywood-orchestrated attack on marriage — tried in San Francisco — turned out this way.” But the group said it was confident the Supreme Court would uphold “the expressed will of the American people.”

WTAE.com: The Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian legal foundation that backed Proposition 8, said it was not surprised that “this Hollywood-orchestrated attack on marriage — tried in San Francisco — turned out this way.” But it said it was …

Huffington Post: “We are not surprised that this Hollywood-orchestrated attack on marriage — tried in San Francisco — turned out this way,” said Brian Raum of the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal aid group that helped defend Proposition 8 in court. “But we are confident that the expressed will of the American people in favor of marriage will be upheld at the Supreme Court.”

News from The Associated Press: Yet legal experts seemed to think the panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals struck down the voter-approved ban on Tuesday purposefully served up its 2-1 opinion in a narrow way and seasoned it with established holdings so the Supreme Court would be less tempted to bite.

Defenders of marriage in California will appeal Tuesday’s ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit that upheld a district judge’s decision against the state’s constitutional amendment protecting marriage.

No court should undercut the democratic process by taking the power to preserve marriage out of the hands of the people.

The opinion. Maggie Gallagher at National Review Online: Ninth Circuit to 7 Million California Voters: You Are Irrational Bigots Rick Hassen at Election Law Blog: Initial Thoughts on 9th Circuit Prop. 8 Decision How Appealing links to numerous reports. Orin …

Heritage Foundation Foundry Blog: Luckily for Ms. Rowe, the Alliance Defense Fund took up her cause and provided legal representation. Ms. Rowe invoked her freedom of association under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as a defense against the claim that her statement preferring “a female Christian roommate” illegally discriminated. Ultimately, HUD ruled sensibly . . .

Bob Unruh at WorldNetDaily: “The American people deserve a court system that upholds the integrity of the judicial process,” said Austin R. Nimocks, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, which has worked on the case. [more]

The American people deserve a court system that upholds the integrity of the judicial process. The 9th Circuit correctly ruled that when a trial judge makes a solemn promise, as Judge Walker did by assuring the parties that the trial video would not be publicly released, the judiciary must not be allowed to renege on its pledge.

LifeNews.com: Signatures are currently being gathered to put Parental Notification on the 2012 November ballot for the fourth time in California. In 2008 Parental Notification’s Proposition 4 lost by a very small percentage, 52% to 48%.

NBC San Diego: Assembly Member Mary Hayashi (D-Hayward) introduced a bill Thursday to create the first lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender specialty license plate for California.

LaTimes.com: The California Supreme Court, faced with a possible ballot measure to scrap newly drawn election districts, decided Friday to leave the boundaries in place for this year’s state Senate races.

OneNewsNow.com: everal prominent Christian leaders from across the country have signed on to lead the official “pastors and leaders faith coalition” for one of the GOP presidential hopefuls. The group was introduced during a recent nationwide conference call.

CBS Los Angeles: he Los Angeles City Council approved a new law Tuesday that will require adult film stars to use condoms.

JusticeNewsFlash Release: A new piece of proposed legislation is aiming to allow students to play on sports teams according to their “gender identity” and not their biological sex, as well as have access to sex-segregated locker rooms.

Religion Clause: According to a January 9 press release from the Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, a California Superior Court judge has finalized a tentative opinion issued in November holding that the archdiocese is not liable for some $20 million in transfer taxes . . .

News from The Associated Press: Rep. Jerry Lewis of California became the latest Republican to announce his retirement from Congress after new boundaries drawn through redistricting promised to make the road to re-election more difficult.

Fox News (includes video): State employees in California have two options: join the Service Employees International Union or refuse membership and still be required to pay non-member dues

Christian Newswire: It goes without saying that “politics happen” — but they should not happen on the taxpayer dime on lampposts along Market Street in San Francisco. The Life Legal Defense Foundation has challenged the City of San Francisco with a blatant violation of its own city code.

OneNewsNow.com: Advocates for Faith & Freedom, a California-based legal group dedicated to protecting religious liberty in the courts, says the next push from the state’s “gay” activists will be to encourage “gender liberation” in the public school system.

Education News: Parent organizers from San Diego and Lynwood on Wednesday rallied against what they called inaccurate and misleading union dispatches to teachers on the controversial parent trigger law, which allows parents at low-performing schools to force their campus to convert to a charter and hire new teachers, or change its administration.

Findlaw: Employment law and OSHA compliance become infinitely more interesting when applied to California’s pornography industry. This week, a Los Angeles city clerk certified more than 70,000 signatures for a ballot initiative to require condoms in porn.

Education News: The sought-after school, half a mile from the Pacific Ocean, admitted 1,460 fewer California residents this year to accept higher-paying students from out-of-state, many from China.

Religion Clause: The Orange County Register last month, in an editorial, reported on a lawsuit filed on Dec. 9 against the Compton (CA Unified School District challenging its two denials of a charter school application filed by a Christian minister.

George W. Dent, Perry v. Schwarzenegger: Is Traditional Marriage Unconstitutional?, 12 Engage (J. of Fed-Soc. Practice Groups) (Nov. 2011)

The American Prospect: Opponents of California’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8, have started collecting the 807,615 signatures needed to put the issue on the ballot. It’ll be a slog—they have to have them all by May 14.

Mercury News: ravis Air Force Base will not meet the demands of a group trying to take down the nativity scene and menorah displayed at a main intersection on the base.

Reuters: A U.S. judge appeared sympathetic to a lesbian federal employee’s bid to strike down a law denying health-insurance benefits to her spouse, in the first hearing since the Obama administration decided to quit defending the statute.

Military.com: California Rep. Duncan Hunter has waded into the battle over the so-called Camp Pendleton cross — put up by leathernecks in honor of four buddies killed in Iraq — by asking the commander of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton to let the cross stay.

Local churches have traditionally claimed 14 of the 21 Palisades Park display spaces to illustrate the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. But atheists managed to get all but three of the spaces this year because of a new city lottery system.

Reuters: Every year, thousands of third-year law students across the country apply for coveted federal judicial clerkships, and every year, the same law schools — Yale, Stanford, and Harvard — top the list of those whose graduates populate federal judges’ chambers. But for the class of 2012, which began receiving its clerkship offers this fall, a new name has muscled in among the elite old guard: The University of California at Irvine School of Law . . .

Religion Clause: In Henry v. Red Hill Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tustin, (CA App., Dec. 9, 2011), a California appeals court upheld a church’s firing of its pre-school director for living with her boyfriend

CSMonitor.com: Proponents of California’s Prop. 8 gay marriage ban say the 2010 ruling against it should be vacated because the judge failed to disclose that he was in a long-term gay relationship.

Reuters: For proponents of Proposition 8: Charles Cooper, David Thompson, Howard Nielson, Nicole Moss and Peter Patterson of Cooper and Kirk; Andrew Pugno of the Law Offices of Andrew Pugno; Brian Raum and James Campbell of the Alliance Defense Fund.

Sarah Pulliam Bailey at :WSJ.com: What counts as a church? Chuck and Stephanie Fromm recently found out. After hosting several periodic Bible studies for up to 50 people in their home in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., the Fromms were fined $300 for violating a city ordinance that prohibits groups of three or more people from gathering without a permit.

WorldNetDaily: Atheists and their compatriots are putting a bull’s-eye on another cross memorial, this time attacking the idea of replacing a fixture at the U.S. Marine base in Camp Pendleton, Calif., that was erected to honor soldiers killed in Iraq.

KGTV San Diego: The crosses were removed by workers from the California Department of Transportation in August after receiving complaints from citizens about religious symbols on state property. Since then, they’ve been stored in a Caltrans warehouse. In a statement from the National Center for Law and Policy, attorney Dean Broyles wrote: “The crosses should never have been removed — especially after receiving only a few e-mail complaints from disgruntled ‘bah humbug’ citizens.’”

Reuters: The case in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is Perry v. Brown, no. 11-17255. For Perry et al: Theodore Olson and Theodore Boutrous of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; David Boies and Jeremy Goldman of Boies, Schiller & Flexner. For proponents of Proposition 8: Charles Cooper, David Thompson, Howard Nielson, Nicole Moss and Peter Patterson of Cooper and Kirk; Andrew Pugno of the Law Offices of Andrew Pugno; Brian Raum and James Campbell of the Alliance Defense Fund.

Truth & Triumph Vol. IV, Issue 3 click here.

Daily Mail Online: Jaiya Ma had been living her boyfriend Jon Hanauer, 49, for six years when he urged her to take a new lover. Within weeks, Jaiya, 34, fell for a furniture designer Ian Ferguson, 44, at a dance class, and a year later she fell pregnant with his baby. But Jon supported Jaiya, welcomed Ian into his home, and the two men helped deliver baby Eamon during an ‘orgasmic’ labour.