Given how liberal the 9th Circuit has been over the years, this isn’t exactly a surprise. And I don’t think it’s the end of the line for Prop 8. Sounds like it’s headed for the Supreme Court.
Below is a partial transcript. Watch the video above for more on this decision and how it may play out:
CBN – After nearly 18 months of waiting, a federal appeals court has ruled that California’s Prop 8, a voter-approved definition of marriage as between a man and a woman, is unconstitutional.
A three-judge panel for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided Tuesday that homosexuals have the right to marry. The decision overturns Proposition 8, which effectively banned gays from legal marriage.
“Opponents of Prop 8 insist on changing the definition of marriage for everyone, including children who deserve the opportunity to grow up in a home with their own married mother and father,” Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst at Focus on the Family, said in a statement after the ruling.
“But no judge has the right to redefine marriage,” he continued. “Doing so redefines parenthood, and offers yet another instance of social engineering based on the desires of adults rather than the interests of children.”
In 2010, Chief U.S. Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that Prop 8 did not pass constitutional muster. But after it was revealed that Walker himself is gay, traditional marriage supporters challenged his ruling.
Despite Tuesday’s decision to uphold Walker’s two-year-old ruling, same-sex marriages are unlikely to resume in California any time soon.
Prop 8 proponents are expected to take the case to the Supreme Court.