This was a big week for same-sex marriage. On Tuesday, the Ninth Circuit struck down California’s Proposition 8 on equal protection grounds. Then on Wednesday, the state of Washington voted to approve gay marriage.
A lot has been written in the last few days and here is some of the best coverage by people on both sides of the debate. For coverage of the Ninth Circuit’s actual opinion, I highly recommend Lyle Denniston’s piece at SCOTUSblog. Eugene Volokh at the Volokh Conspiracy also shares his thoughts on the case.
For discussion about what the Supreme Court is likely to do in the case, you should read Mike Sacks at HuffPo, Orin Kerr at the Volokh Conspiracy, and Robert Barnes at the Washington Post.
Several people are suggesting that Judge Reinhardt’s opinion was directly aimed at Justice Kennedy. And that the Ninth Circuit’s opinion was narrowly drawn to obtain an “affirm” from the Supreme Court. Those pieces include David Savage at the L.A. Times and Daniel Wood at the Christian Science Monitor. Perhaps the best view comes from a former Kennedy clerk: Orin Kerr at the Volokh Conspiracy.
Will Oremus at Slate argues why many gay leaders do not want the Ninth Circuit’s ruling at the Supreme Court because they fear a ruling from the Court that would set-back the gay rights movement.
Dahlia Lithwick at Slate carves up the few arguments proponents of Prop. 8 put forward in the Ninth Circuit and at the Federal District Court level.
Several of the GOP presidential candidates blasted the ruling. And the National Review argues that the Ninth Circuit’s ruling thrwarted the views of 7 million California voters.