NOM BLOG

Ninth Circuit Speeds Prop 8 Case Toward Supreme Court!

 

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Dear Marriage Supporter,

Just hours ago, the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit denied an en banc rehearing of this past February's decision striking down California's Proposition 8.

The decision clears the way for an immediate petition to the United States Supreme Court, and we need your help.

Would you please consider making an immediate, confidential, tax-deductible gift of $25, $50, $100 or even $500 to help bring this case to the Supreme Court?

Donate now

The majority decision authored by Stephen Reinhardt last February (the most overturned judge on the most overturned court in America) literally dismissed the history of legal precedent on marriage—only including it in a footnote in his decision!

And now a majority of judges on the Ninth Circuit have refused even to reconsider his ruling.

Judge O'Scannlain's dissent to today's ruling bluntly criticized the court's refusal. Noting President Obama's recent call for the "conversation [to] continue in a respectful way," he put it perfectly: "Today our court has silenced any such respectful conversation."

O'Scannlain continued:

Based on a two-judge majority's gross misapplication of Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (1996), we have now declared that animus must have been the only conceivable motivation for a sovereign State to have remained committed to a definition of marriage that has existed for millennia, Perry v. Brown, 671 F.3d 1052, 1082 (9th Cir. 2012). Even worse, we have overruled the will of seven million California Proposition 8 voters based on a reading of Romer that would be unrecognizable to the Justices who joined it, to those who dissented from it, and to the judges from sister circuits who have since interpreted it. We should not have so roundly trumped California's democratic process without at least discussing this unparalleled decision as an en banc court.

Disagreeing with same-sex marriage is animus and bigotry. The votes of 7 million Californians are worthless. Open democracy is dying.

My friends, this is what Judge Walker's and Judge Reinhardt's decisions mean.
Help us stop this once and for all at the Supreme Court!

Please make a secure, tax-deductible donation right away to NOM's Legal Defense Fund to help us bring this case to the United States Supreme Court!

Donate now

We have already donated over $400,000 to help defend Prop 8...but so much more is needed to ensure we are able to mount the best defense possible in the coming months!
Remember, the Proposition 8 case is about more than just California.

If we allow this ruling to stand, then every single legal protection for marriage in every single state is in danger...

...and the day will soon come when same-sex marriage is the law of the land all across America.

Please help us right this wrong and let the voices and votes of over 7 million Californians be heard, once and for all!

God bless you for all that you do. Together, with your help, we will overcome.

To learn more about Prop8, visit www.prop8case.com.

The National Organization for Marriage Education Fund is a 501(c)(3) organization, gifts to which are deductible as charitable contributions for Federal income tax purposes.

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