He was born in 1944 near end of WWII right before men and women coming home from one of the most brutal wars that ever was. A ‘tween’ during Korean War. Twelve years old when Hungarian Uprising was broadcast on television for weeks on end in 1956. A teenager during Selma and slaying of civil rights workers, a young man eligible for VietNam War, which was also the first time a war had been broadcast so broadly and deeply on television.
Judge Walker was a Midwesterner, small town, Watseka, Illinois
His nomination to the Calif high bench was by Ronald Regan in 1987. Nancy Pelosi, then in House of Reps, opposed his being seated, because of his alleged insensitivity to gay people and to poor people. He was seated despite opposition.
In 1999 Walker rejected arguments from the parents of a San Leandro boy who claimed their religious rights were violated by pro-gay comments their son’s teacher had made in the classroom. He has rendered opinions on huge cases, including Microsoft and Apple, Oracle, etc., those being right in his back yard, jurisdiction-wise.
Although the cry of ‘activist judge’ is most often a specious one by those calling it, using it to sidetrack the actual issues of the law which are very often pretty hard bright white lines, with some, leeway for variance, but not near as much as some in the public outcry like to tout…
from my brush with law school, it appears that any honest judge could have made Judge Walker’s decision today. That it is what it is on the face of it, and without skewing the law at all. Quite the contrary, following the law, opening up a door for making, actually, in next round, an even stronger law voted on by a citizen majority– that IS constitutional.
Judge Walker knows and we all know, his decision will be appealed.
And so it goes.
Personally, I dont find it relevant that some say Judge Walker himself is gay. Doesn’t matter. It’s not just a red herring, it’s a red and dead behemoth.
In the law, a Chief Judge of the State District Court, can be gay, ungay, ubergay, mixed gay, gay-gay, military honored gay… and this does nothing to influence nor do away with the massive oversight to be found in the appeals courts, state and federal.
There were many sea walls created with great oversight long ago by those who set up the justice systems; those piers and pylons still hold today… whether a citizen likes or dislikes the judgments as they come down.
You can read the entire decision here: and I recommend it. Most often, as you know, we get trace elements of many stories that have huge history and weight, but time time time, often seems to prevent in depth reading and knowing.
I think though, that we’re often informed ten times more knowledgably if we can sometimes read primary text first. Inside the document linked to above, are respectful and nuanced definitions of gay people you will rarely find in media, as well as sincere pleas by those opposing that you may or may not have heard, but because they are offered before a court, they are mostly free of the snark&snide one might hear in public watercooler talk.
The history of the bill and of its wending its way through courts is fascinating to read: Frankly it reads like a historical novel of struggle and battle.
But on the face of it and in the meat of it, it is anything but fiction, rather, a close and sturdy parsing of law long existent before Prop 8.
Here is the concluding para of the decision:
Because Proposition 8 is unconstitutional under both the
Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses, the court orders entry of
judgment permanently enjoining its enforcement; prohibiting the
official defendants from applying or enforcing Proposition 8 and
directing the official defendants that all persons under their
control or supervision shall not apply or enforce Proposition 8.
The clerk is DIRECTED to enter judgment without bond in favor of
plaintiffs and plaintiff-intervenors and against defendants and
defendant-intervenors pursuant to FRCP 58.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
VAUGHN R WALKER
United States District Chief Judge