U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker will issue a Thursday morning ruling on whether to stay a decision in the Proposition 8 federal case pending appeal, according to a late Wednesday e-mail from the court.
The ruling be issued between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. Pacific Time.
Karen Ocamb reports that West Hollywood is ready to preform marriages, if the stay is lifted. And, she includes this additional background:
As Lambda Legal’s Jon Davidson noted, there is some confusion over the appeals process. There may only be a small window of opportunity for same sex couples to marry if Judge Walker lifts the stay on his affirmative ruling before the defendant-interveners appeal to the 9th Circuit to impose a stay and stop or prohibit marriages while Walker’s ruling is appealed – if the defendant-interveners have standing to make the appeal.
The issue of defendant-intervener arises because the named defendant, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state’s Attorney General Jerry Brown, wouldn’t defend the case and won’t appeal the decision. In fact, they support allowing marriages to begin immediately and asked Judge Walker to lift his stay.
