Prop. 8 Judge is Reportedly Gay: What to Make of That?
The lede from an article out Sunday in the SF Chronicle reads as follows:
The biggest open secret in the landmark trial over same-sex marriage being heard in San Francisco is that the federal judge who will decide the case, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, is himself gay.
Interesting. So, what to make of this fact?
According to the article, folks aren’t making much of it. Andy Pugno, general counsel for the group that sponsored the Prop. 8 campaign, rebuffed claims that his group might bring it up if Walker ultimately rules against them. “We are not going to say anything about that,” Pugno said.
Others quoted in the article say that Walker, appointed to the bench by George H.W. Bush in 1989, say they don’t believe that Walker’s sexual orientation will affect his ruling on Prop. 8.
“There is nothing about Walker as a judge to indicate that his sexual orientation, other than being an interesting factor, will in any way bias his view,” said Kate Kendell, head of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, to the Chron. Kendell cites the judge’s jurisprudential reputation, and says, “There wasn’t anyone who thought (overturning Prop. 
was a cakewalk given his sexual orientation.”
Walker has declined to talk about anything involving the Prop. 8 case outside court, and he wouldn’t comment to the Chron when we asked about his orientation and whether it was relevant to the lawsuit.
We can certainly understand why the parties might not want to address Walker’s sexual orientation: No reason to stir more controversy into a case that will ultimately be settled at the Ninth Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court. Plus, it’s not like Judge Walker raised his hand for the case — it was reportedly randomly assigned to him.
But is Walker’s sexual orientation relevant to the trial? Frankly, it’s hard to see how it’s not, especially if you believe that the opinions of judges, try as they might to divorce their personal opinions from their rulings, are invariably colored and informed by their own experiences, just like the rest of us.
The Chron story quotes a fellow federal judge and friend of Walker’s conceding the relevance of the fact. Walker’s background, says the judge, is relevant in the same way people would want to know that a judge hearing a discrimination case involving Latinos was Latino or a Jewish judge was ruling in a case involving the Anti-Defamation League.
LBers, any thoughts?
about 1 month ago
When you draw a curve on a surface there is an inside and an outside of the curve(*). Being positively oriented means you are following along the curve so that the inside is on your left, negatively oriented means the opposite.
The reason it matters is that the orientation of the integral determines the sign of the integral. Reverse the orientation and you reverse the sign.
(*) I'm actually oversimplifying a bit on whether there are insides and outsides but that is just going to confuse things.
about 1 month ago
What mule said. Is his conformation beyond compare? How many show titles does he have? why would you even consider breeding a "stock" horse that most likely should be culled? Geld him.
He is registerable if you have papers for both sire and dam. Here is a little more info:
http://www.arabianhorses.org/default2.asp
about 2 weeks ago
Big difference. As the article said Bush addressed Deal Junior high School. Obama is going to speak to all the Elementary students of the United States. One school Vs the US School system. I would call that a big difference. Next time try reading the article before you post.
about 1 week ago
Well after-all any one of us is a domestic terrorist according to Janet Napolanto and Home Land Security Report. Right? They have to have the know of who is revolting against their ideologies. Remember these people are also in everyone of our communities ready to report anything they deem suspicious behavior.
I think the case should go to the Supreme Court.