One more small step for sanity was taken Tuesday as U.S. District Chief Judge James Ware ruled that retired Judge Vaughn R. Walker did not have to defend the impartiality of his ruling on Proposition 8 just because Vaughn is gay (and has a—gasp!—long-term partner).
And, yes, the decision will set a precedent, thankfully, that will help derail other such bigotry-based challenges.
Here are some excerpts from some of Wednesday’s reports on the Tuesday ruling:
From Maura Dolan for the LA Times:
“It is not reasonable to presume that a judge is incapable of making an impartial decision about the constitutionality of a law, solely because, as a citizen, the judge could be affected by the proceedings,” Ware wrote.
The ruling also suggested that Walker had no obligation even to disclose his personal relationship with his partner.
If Walker had revealed “intimate but irrelevant details of his personal life” to the litigants, he could have “set a pernicious precedent” for other judges by promoting disclosure of highly personal information, Ware said.
From Ian Lovett for the NY Times:
“The single characteristic that Judge Walker shares with the plaintiffs, albeit one that might not have been shared with the majority of Californians, gave him no greater interest in a proper decision on the merits than would exist for any other judge or citizen,” Judge Ware wrote.
He called the case the first in which a judge’s same-sex relationship led to an effort to disqualify him. However, he cited other decisions that allowed female judges to rule on gender discrimination cases.
This is from Bob Egelko for the SF Chron:
[Ware] said disqualifying Walker because he is a member of a group potentially affected by his ruling would also require “recusal of minority judges in most, if not all, civil rights cases.”Besides, Ware said, the Prop. 8 case did not affect only a minority group.
“We all have an equal stake in a case that challenges the constitutionality of a restriction on a fundamental right,” he said.
Yep. What Judge Ware said.
Naturally, the pro Prop 8 group has said they will appeal.
The above AP video has the background on the ruling.