Gay marriages remain on hold*

Judge Vaughn Walker has decided to keep gay marriages on hold until at least Aug. 18, giving opponents of his landmark ruling to overturn Proposition 8 time to appeal their case to the Ninth Circuit.

*Update: Here's how the Los Angeles Times reports it:

A federal judge Thursday refused to permanently stay his ruling overturning Proposition 8 but extended a temporary hold to give supporters time to appeal the historic ruling.

U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker, who overturned the measure on Aug. 4, agreed to give its sponsors until Aug. 18 to appeal his ruling to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. No new marriages can take place until then.

Walker's decision came after supporters of the same-sex marriage ban warned that they would take their case to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary to ensure that his ruling did not take effect.

Blind justice

The U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 today to indefinitely block cameras from California's Prop. 8 trial, overturning the trial judge's order to allow a limited broadcast of the proceedings. The court's conservatives voted in the majority. LAT

Our opaque justice system

The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned an order in the Prop. 8 trial that would have allowed the proceedings to be streamed to other federal court houses in the state and posted on YouTube.

The case, which got underway today, aims to overturn California's ban against gay marriage on constitutional grounds. After the federal judge in the case agreed to a limited broadcast of the proceedings, opponents of gay marriage filed an appeal to the Supreme Court, arguing that they could be subject to harassment from gay-marriage proponents. The Supreme Court's temporary restriction will remain in effect until Wednesday.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Justice David Souter offered the only dissent, saying there was insufficient evidence that broadcasting the trial would cause "irreparable harm" to supporters of Prop. 8.

Can one argue a law is constitutional and then claim the public is too unruly to hear that argument?

Bush v. Gore attorneys to challenge Prop. 8 in federal court

The two attorneys who opposed each other in the 2000 Florida recount battle between George Bush and Al Gore have joined forces to overturn California's ban on same-sex marriage. In response to today's California Supreme Court ruling upholding Proposition 8, Ted Olsen, who represented Bush, and David Boies, who represented Gore, said they'll challenge the ban in federal court. The attorneys will hold a press conference tomorrow morning at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles.

California Supreme Court upholds Prop 8

The California Supreme Court has ruled that the state's ban on same-sex marriage, passed by voters in November, will stand. Gay couples married in the period after the court legalized gay marriage and before Prop 8 was implemented will be legally recognized by the state. LAT

Twitter prank stirs online pot

Despite what you might have read on Twitter today, the California Supreme Court has not overturned Proposition 8, the state's ban on gay marriage.

According to Gawker, someone recycled a Los Angeles Times story from May 2008, when the Supreme Court overturned an earlier ban on gay marriage, and packaged it as new news. Of course, Prop 8 was passed in reaction to the ruling reported on in the May 2008 story.

That fact didn't stop the misinformation flame from spreading. Gawker reports:

But Twitter doesn't sweat the details! Thousands of users "re-Tweeted" it or whatever, and before you know it, the Los Angeles Times' own fucking Twitter feed was sending the gay marriage news out to its 19,700-plus followers.

The Times has since Tweeted that the earlier Tweet was not new news. FishbowlLA also issued a correction on its website.

Take that, Gavin

California Attorney General Jerry Brown today asked the state Supreme Court to overturn Proposition 8, arguing that the gay marriage ban deprives people of a constitutional right, something that cannot be done through the normal initiative process. Prop 8 backers call Brown's action "outrageous," the LAT reports.

Supreme Court to consider Proposition 8

The California Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban, was passed in a constitutional manner. Meantime, the ban remains in effect.

Chickens and gay marriage

The chickens are getting a bad rap in the battle for gay marriage.

Several bloggers have criticized (here, here and here) California voters for what they deem to be an absurd contrast in compassion - voting to give farm chickens a better life (Proposition 2) while voting to eliminate the right of gay men and women to marry (Proposition 8).

I can understand the frustration Prop 8 opponents must feel, but this false equivalence minimizes the importance both measures and avoids the hard analysis of why Prop 8 prevailed and what to do next. There are much more complicated issue at work in the California electorate than compassion for farm animals.

The battle over Proposition 8

Tonight on Which Way, LA?: Attorneys for and against Proposition 8* talk about the looming legal battle to overturn the gay marriage ban; Evan Halper of the Los Angeles Times breaks down Gov. Schwarzenegger's November budget plan, including a 5-cent a drink tax on booze; and Jim Mayer of California Forward praises Proposition 11's redistricting reform.

*The battle over Prop 8 also hit the streets today, snarling traffic on the Westside.