Prop 8 Overturned, 14th Amendment Next

Chief Judge Vaughn Walker (a gay, libertarian conservative first nominated to the bench by known socialist and butt-cancer survivor, Ronald Reagan) overturned California's Prop 8, stating that,

The freedom to marry is recognized as a fundamental right protected by the Due Process Clause. See, for example, Turner v Safely, 482 US 78, 95 (1987)...

Uh oh, it's the Republican/Tea Party's new worst enemy: Amendment XIV!!! But what about "traditional marriage" in the US?

The evidence shows that the movement of marriage away from a gendered institution and toward an institution free from state-mandated gender roles reflects an evolution in the understanding of gender rather than a change in marriage. The evidence did not show any historical purpose for excluding same-sex couples from marriage, as states have never required spouses to have an ability or willingness to procreate in order to marry. FF 21. Rather, the exclusion exists as an artifact of a time when the genders were seen as having distinct roles in society and in marriage. That time has passed.

Don't tell that to the fussbudgets over at Concerned Women for America. Those pious, submitting broads might rend their maternity aprons and stomp on them in disgust with their bare feet.

After going on about how the government must have a very compelling reason to restrict rights of a group of people--or some communist French nonsense like that--up comes my favorite part (which is a header, no less):

PROPOSITION 8 IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL BECAUSE IT DENIES PLAINTIFFS A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT WITHOUT A LEGITIMATE (MUCH LESS COMPELLING) REASON

The whole thing is a scathing page-turner. Early in the ruling, Chief Judge Walker describes how the defendants only called two witnesses, one of whom was not qualified to enter expert testimony. It's as riotous as dry legalese can get, and it reminds me of Judge Jone's ruling in Kitzmiller vs. Dover.

Cheers to Gov. Schwarzenegger for refusing to defend Prop 8. And cheers to Chief Judge Walker for including this nugget:

That the majority of California voters supported Proposition 8 is irrelevant, as “fundamental rights may not be submitted to [a] vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections.” West Virginia State Board of Education v Barnette...

Cue "activist."