JURISPRUDENCE - This week a team of lawyers sought to undermine the U.S. legal system.
I'm not speaking in hyperbole -- these members of the bar attempted to discredit every black, female, non-christian, or gay judge in the country.
Prop 8 counsel in California sought to overturn a court decision because the judge in the case did not recuse himself for being gay before ruling on an issue that affects gay people. They are upset that the judge did not disclose his relationship with a man before determining if Prop 8, famed anti-gay vote of 2008, was unconstitutional -- thereby "benefiting himself" and people like him.
Despite the obvious oversight that the judge in question showed no intention of getting married, this argument has the potential to rock the entire existing legal system.
According to the logic of the Prop 8 counsel, no African-American judge could sit on a case that dealt with discrimination -- including cases where police officers are accused of racial profiling, where schools are accused of excluding students of color, where an individual was not given a promotion because of the color of his or her skin.
According to this damaging logic, no woman could sit on a case where abortion, divorce rights, child support rights (for women), gender discrimination etc. are considered. The same goes for Jewish judges considering freedom of religion issues. And yes, any judges who are gay or have gay family members or friends would also be booted from cases that deal with gay rights issues.
In fact, many Supreme Court Justices would have had to recuse themselves from important cases just in the last decade because some members of the minority group they belong to might benefit from the court's ruling.
This case was ruled on Wednesday. The judge ruled that Prop 8 jurist Vaughn Walker was not obligated to recuse himself from hearing the same-sex marriage matter.
But simply suggesting such an argument shows just how misguided and irresponsible the Prop 8 legal team is. And how desperate they are to discriminate against LGBT Americans, no matter the cost to the entire country.
(Emma Ruby-Sachs is an attorney. This article was posted first at huffingtonpost.com) -cw
Tags: Prop 8, constitution, Judge Walker
CityWatch
Vol 9 Issue 48
Pub: June 16, 2011
