Ninth Circut Denies Prop. 8 En Bank Hearing Request

In a very short opinion the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has denied the request by the losing party to have the matter reheard by an En Bank panel of judges (which does not mean all the judges on the bench of the 9th Circuit – but a panel comprised of a majority of them). The original appeal was heard (as is common) by a 3 judge panel.

This does not mean that Gay Marriage is legal in CA yet. The ruling is stayed for 90days to allow the losers to file the threatened appeal to the United States Supreme Court.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that this case may be summarily denied the appeal. That is because Judge Walker’s ruling and the following appeals have all hinged on the specific areas of CA law, CA constitution and the initiative process in CA.  Letting the decision stand only affects California.

However, should the court decide it will reach out and tackle the issue as a national civil rights issue (such as with DOMA and in discrimination cases in other states) they may decide to act as it’s the first case to reach this appellate level. I’m not sure this sitting court is as ballsey as that in Brown v. Board of Education.