As you have probably already heard, this week the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the Ninth Circuit extended the stay which was first self-imposed by federal
district judge Vaughn R. Walker, in regards to the implementation of
Proposition 8. According to the news article below, this means that the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit more than likely will not even hear
the case concerning Proposition 8 until at least December of this  year.
This, of course, means that until the case is decided, there will be no more
gay and lesbian "marriages" occurring in California. This is another small
victory for Bible-believing Christians who oppose this unnatural and ungodly
lifestyle. Let's hope that it continues to hold after December as well.


Court Extends Stay on Allowing Gay Marriage

By JESSE McKINLEY - NYT

August 16, 2010


SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court has extended a stay on same-sex
marriages in California until it decides whether a ban on such unions is
constitutional.

It is just the latest turn in a protracted legal battle over Proposition 8,
the voter-approved ban.

The ruling, issued by a three-judge panel of the United States Court of
Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, came less than a week after a federal
district judge, Vaughn R. Walker, lifted a stay he had imposed to allow
proponents of the ban to argue why same-sex marriages should not proceed. On
Aug. 4, Judge Walker ruled that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional.

Even when lifting his stay on Thursday, Judge Walker allowed six days for
the Ninth Circuit to review his ruling. That left many gay and lesbian
couples and their supporters hopeful that same-sex marriages would resume
Wednesday at 5 p.m., when Judge Walker's stay would have expired.

That will not happen. Now, such weddings will not resume until, at least,
the appeals court decides the case. And perhaps not until it is decided by
the United States Supreme Court, where it seems to be headed.

The Ninth Circuit panel, made up of Judges Edward Leavy, Michael Daly
Hawkins and Sidney R. Thomas, determined that a stay pending the appeal was
appropriate.

The panel requested the first briefs to be filed in September and for the
appeal to be heard in court in December.

Richard L. Hasen, a professor of law at the Loyola Law School Los Angeles,
said the ruling "takes the heat off the Supreme Court," which was likely to
have been asked for an emergency stay by those who support Proposition 8 if
the Ninth Circuit had not acted.

But Mr. Hasen added that the stay's putting a halt to any potential
marriages did not mean that the Ninth Circuit would necessarily rule in
favor of Proposition 8.

"I don't think that the granting of the stay means much, if anything, about
how the Ninth Circuit will rule on the merits," he said. "It won't be the
same panel deciding the merits as decided the stay motion."

Mr. Hasen added he believed that even supporters of same-sex marriage could
see the logic of extending a stay.

One issue most likely to be settled by the appeals court is that of legal
standing. Both Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown
of California -- named as defendants in the case -- have voiced opposition
to Proposition 8.

That left the defense of the measure primarily to its ballot sponsors,
including the group Protectmarriage.com. Some legal experts have questioned,
however, whether a group that is not charged with enforcing a law can be
found to be responsible for defending it.



Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS  Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your Download Center 4 Mac BBS Software & Christian Files.  We Use Hermes II


--- Hermes Web Tosser 1.1