OOoooohh! Drah-mah in the Courtroom!

And the Proposition 8 drama continues! A little over a week ago, two San Francisco Chronicle writers did the (almost) unthinkable. They outed Judge Vaughn Walker, the U.S. District Judge who is currently hearing arguments in the Proposition 8 case. (To read the original article, go here: http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-02-07/bay-area/17848482_1_same-sex-marriage-sexual-orientation-judge-walker)

Now, I don’t know if you’re thinking what I’m thinking, but the phrase “conflict of interest” somehow leaps to mind. On the other hand, Judge Walker was appointed to his current position by President Bush Sr, implying that he is, by nature, conservative leaning. But again, if you’ll recall from my blog last month (because I know you hang on every word I’ve ever written!) gay marriage could actually be a conservative issue. Man, that sounds like a double whammy.

So with the news that’s new to all of us, will the judge remove himself from hearing the case? HA! Not surprisingly, anti-prop 8-ers claim that this is a non-issue and many cite a case he took as a private attorney on behalf of the U.S. Olympic Committee to keep San Francisco’s Gay Olympics from using the name. The U.S. Olympic Committee won the case and consequently, Judge Walker, “pissed off a lot of gay people” (http://sfist.com/2010/02/08/prop_8_trial_judge_is_gay_should_th.php)

As you might imagine, the other side of the courtroom has a lot to say about it:

''Walker's entire course of conduct has only one sensible explanation: that Walker is hellbent to use the case to advance the cause of same-sex marriage.'' - Ed Whelan, National Review’s The Corner

''At every turn he's displayed extreme bias in favor of his similarly situated homosexual activist plaintiffs.'' And ''This is no different than having an avid gun collector preside over a Second Amendment case.'' – Matt Barber, The Liberty Counsel (By the way, avid gun collectors DO occasionally preside over Second Amendment cases without any violation of the rules of judicial conduct.)

Walker is ''far more akin to an activist than a neutral referee.'' – Brian Brown, National Organization for Marriage.

I have to admit that I don’t know much about the rules of judicial conduct, but I do know that if I was for Proposition 8 and it was struck down by a gay judge, you better believe it would be the first (and maybe only) thing I would point to on appeal. And I would really hate to see a ruling as important as this one overturned by a higher court because of a technicality.