It Shouldn’t Matter, But I Bet It Will – Prop 8 Judge Outed
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.
Screams of outrage from the Right in five… four… three…
Never mind that Judge Walker was assigned the case at random. Never mind that it’s been perfectly okay for white male judges to determine the fate of women and minorities for centuries. Personally, I’m sick of it. Sotomayor’s temperament, anyone? And if you feel I’m jumping the gun on this, forgive me. I know what’s coming.
Tags: Prop 8
oh of COURSE they are going to go nuts. never mind they have 5 activist right wing judges selling our country to big business.
And you would have freaked out if it had been assigned at random to a well-known opponent of gay marriage.
Blah, blah.
“you would have freaked out if it had been assigned at random to a well-known opponent of gay marriage.”
No federal judge should be a “well-known opponent” of anything but crime. That’s one of the few ways to lose those jobs-for-life. BEING gay is not the same thing as ADVOCATING for gay issues. But then, ignorance of our political system is a Republican specialty.
One thing that really bugged me about the Sotomayor confirmation fight was the unspoken but powerful idea that the only people capable of being impartial are white, Christian, heterosexual male judges. Remember the outcry by the right that Sotomayor dared to suggest that a “wise Latina” might actually make a better judge?
I expect judges to rule based on the law. It shouldn’t matter about those other things but I do think experience does play a part in someone’s world view. I guess I don’t understand how a straight judge, who can marry anyone who wants to marry them is somehow a better arbitrator on the issue of same sex marriage. Being gay should not automatically disqualify one from ruling on issues that involve gay people just like being straight does not automatically disqualify you from making rulings affecting straight people.
Walker doesn’t strike me as a “well-known opponent” of anything. Not that this will matter to the Right. Nuance and independent thought is not their strong suit. Example A: And you would have freaked out if it had been assigned at random to a well-known opponent of gay marriage.
That’s quite a leap.
And he was appointed to the bench by Bush the First. You don’t get these appointments by a GOP President if you’re a diehard liberal. For more background – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaughn_R._Walker
The only judge the Prop 8 defenders would probably like is Judge Roy Moore.
I think the Prop 8 defenders are just trying to set themselves up for appeal because they know they’re definitely going to lose. If you’ve been following the case, the Prop 8 side did not do a very good job.
I’ll guess we’ll see if this pressure is enough to get Judge Walker to vote for the Prop 8 side, just to prove he’s unbiased.