Judge in Perry case wants trial preparation to begin on Prop 8

Hunter of Justice
June 30, 2009
U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker, who is hearing the Perry v. Schwarzenegger (Prop 8)case, has issued an order changing what had been scheduled as a hearing on a preliminary injunction on Thursday into a status conference, so that the case can skip the preliminary injunction phase and move directly to discovery and other trial preparation. The effect of this order will be to delay the case reaching the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, but when it does go up on appeal, there will be a full evidentiary record. The order also grants the motion to intervene filed by Prop 8 proponents, who are now its lead defenders, since state Attorney General Jerry Brown has declined to defend its constitutionality. Most interesting, though, are the questions that Judge Walker identified for both further briefing and factual development. He has directed the parties to produce evidence supporting their respective positions on a broad range of questions. [Link]