On Wednesday afternoon U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker struck down Proposition 8 and reopened the door to same sex marriage in California. The case will now be appealed to the 9th Circuit Court and likely go from there to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Proposition 8 was a controversial ballot initiative to ban gay marriage which passed last year after a high pressure media campaign which pitted hardcore religious conservatives and the Mormon church against civil libertarians and Hollywood activists. The result was to override a prior court ruling which had led to a brief period of legalization for gay marriage under which 18,000 couples were married. The status of those couples and of future gay marriages in California remains unresolved until judge Walker decides whether or not to put his ruling on hold pending appeal.
Walker's ruling depends heavily on the Constitution and focuses on the issue of equal protection under the law, rejecting the idea that a majority vote can take rights away from minority groups. The ruling is a very positive step forward for liberty in California and a triumph for the rule of law over the rule of the mob.
Perhaps the most interesting part of this story is that despite the fact that many conservative groups backed Proposition 8, in many ways this ruling is a direct product of a strong libertarian streak in the Republican party which is only getting stronger going into November's election.
Ronald Reagan who once commented that he believed that the "heart of conservatism is libertarianism" essentially planted a liberty bomb decades ago when he appointed judge Walker to his first position on the bench. Walker was then and remains an avowed constitutional libertarian and one of only three openly gay federal court judges.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - harley waybill
This just reminds us that there are conservatives and there are conservatives. RR was a complicated guy of whom I can forgive a lot because of my sense of his good faith. This is one of those times when I feel really kindly toward the Dutchman. Thank you Ron, wherever you are.
2 - jeannie danna
Dave,
The elephant in the room is this dead horse named , Reaganomics.
How have you equated, same-sex marriage with Ronald Reagan? if he came back today he would tell all of you that Reaganomics has failed miserably!
3 - jeannie danna
RR was a complicated guy?
No he wasn't...the Heritage foundation is complicated. they created this Reagan myth.
Excerpt from the book, Tear down this myth by Will Bunch:
"His 1981 tax cut was followed quickly by tax hikes that you rarely hear about, and Reagan's real lasting achievement on that front was slashing marginal rates for the wealthy - even as rising payroll taxes socked the working class. His promise to shrink government was uttered so many time that many acolytes believe it really happened, but in fact Reagan expanded the federal payroll, added a new cabinet post, and created a huge debt that ultimately tripped up his handpicked successor, George H.W. Bush. What he did shrink was government regulation and oversight - linked to a series of unfortunate events from the savings-and-loan crisis of the late 1980s to the sub-prime mortgage crisis of the late 2000s."
4 - Alan Kurtz
Excellent article, Dave. Thanks. But judging from the first few posts, I'm afraid BC commenters are going to make this all about Reagan and miss your larger point. Seems the Gipper is still a lightning rod after all these years. Maybe that's the way he would've wanted it.
5 - jeannie danna
super commenter has spoken...
6 - Alan Kurtz
Oh, did you notice? I assume you're referring to the fact that I'm now at the head of the pack of BC's top commenters, although that fluctuates quite a bit. And also, of course, I'm among the five most prolific BC writers for June. Plus two of the five most commented-upon articles at this moment were written by me, including #1. Ho-hum. Surprising how easy it is, really, to dominate this web site.
7 - Dave Nalle
Alan, leading in some of those stats is not always a good thing.
Dave
8 - Alan Kurtz
Point taken.
9 - handyguy
And if there were a list of most chest-thumping, egotistic commenters....
10 - Alan Kurtz
I know, I'd be a shoo-in for that list.
11 - jeannie danna
Reading #6 would make you think that everyone's contributions to BC are nothing compared to Alan's...
We're nothing and your the king of us... Alan, your the King of Nothing.
:( Got any cake?
12 - jeannie danna
I see human humility in #10! could I be wrong about you?
13 - handyguy
This is one of the few issues Dave and I agree on. But I can't resist pointing out that "the posturing of the religious right" was not exactly discouraged by Ronald Reagan. His presidency coincided with the rise to prominence of Falwell, Robertson, et al., and he and they welcomed each other as political allies.
And Mr. Reagan's track record regarding AIDS, which was identified as a viral epidemic early during his presidency, has been repeatedly and justifiably labeled as shameful.
Liberty is good. Tunnel-vision definitions of it, not so much.
14 - jeannie danna
We need to look at the real Reagan Presidency, not just the re-written version.
Reagan's conservative agenda was not particularly helpful to black Americans and women. The Reagan administration opposed abortion and, as mentioned previously, cut many programs to assist mothers, children, and minorities. Reagan's own administration and a large majority of those he appointed to other government positions were primarily white males. Reagan did appoint Sandra Day O'Connor to the Supreme Court during his tenure in office in an attempt to increase his popularity with female voters, but this single act hardly made up for his previous years of neglect.
15 - jeannie danna
"President Reagan was a firm believer in this methodology and almost from the moment he took his oath of office set to work dismantling government entitlement programs. The first major step toward rolling back opportunities for those not lucky enough to be born into wealth took place when he signed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA). OBRA served to cut federal funding programs for the poor as well as inducements for states to provide funding. Unfortunately, cutting funding for programs was not enough to revolutionize the welfare programs in the way that conservative ideologues desired. In order to completely undermine the progressive system of entitlements to the poor, the Reagan administration began to use tax reform as a method of undercutting welfare."
16 - Arch Conservative
Ah yes less Jeannie......the liberal notion of helping those "less fortunate"................. create a lifetime of government dependency and call it compassion.
Honestly, I don't see how you moonbats manage to make it out of bed in the morning and tie your shoes let alone use the computer.
17 - roger nowosielski
Moonbats? You're stealing Archie's turn of phrase. At least acknowledge the master.
18 - handyguy
Suggestion: engage brain before typing. It really does help sometimes.
19 - roger nowosielski
Jeannie,
Whatever Reagan was politically, it's got nothing to do with Dave's article, with which I can find no fault. Crediting the recent court decision to Reagan may or may not be far stretched, but let's leave Mr. Nalle some elbow room to speculate. You don't have to buy his hypothesis to appreciate the main point.
Tell me if I am wrong.
20 - handyguy
Just found this interesting bit about Judge Walker on Wikipedia:
Walker's original nomination to the bench by Ronald Reagan in 1987 stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee because of controversy over his representation of the United States Olympic Committee in a lawsuit that prohibited the use of the title "Gay Olympics". Two dozen House Democrats, led by Rep. Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, opposed his nomination because of his alleged "insensitivity" to gays and the poor.
21 - El Bicho
very good article, Dave
22 - jeannie danna
Roger,
Since one of Dave's article's tags is Ronald Reagan, I figured he was fair game in this thread...clear enough?
also read #1, RR was a complicated guy...
23 - jeannie danna
#16 was directed at me...some gibberish about less. Yes, Arch less for us means more for you eh?
24 - roger nowosielski
Jeannie, I don't pay attention to nonsense. As to number 16, Archie will be Archie.
25 - jeannie danna
Yes...
: ) nite Roger