Prop 8 Ruling Round Up
Chuck Donovan /
Both sides of the same-sex marriage debate reacted strongly to Judge Vaughn Walker’s decision in Perry v. Schwarzenegger to overturn Prop 8 in California. What has been most surprising is the developing consensus from prominent legal experts and analysts, including many who support the redefinition of marriage, who find Judge Walker’s opinion unpersuasive. Some argue that Walker failed to tie his legal rationale back to the Constitution’s text. Others were unimpressed with Judge Walker’s “findings of fact” that made sweeping generalizations and predictions about the social dimensions of his ruling. An extensive sampling of the scholars’ reactions:
Matthew Franck, fellow at the Witherspoon Institute, wrote in Public Discourse:
To say that the status of men and women in marriage is one of equal partners is not to say that men and women are the same, such that it does not matter what sex their partners are. The equalization of status is not the obliteration of difference, as much as Judge Walker would like to pretend it is.