Supporters of Proposition 8, California's voter-approved constitutional
ban on same sex marriages, lost their bid to overturn a previous
decision that the ban violated the United States Constitution.
The
supporters alleged that the judge who authored the decision, Chief Judge
Vaughn Walker, should not have heard the case because of his
involvement in a long-term homosexual relationship, a fact that he
revealed after his retirement from the bench.
The current judge
presiding over the case ruled against this argument, stating that "it is
not reasonable to presume that a judge is incapable of making an
impartial decision about the constitutionality of a law, solely because,
as a citizen, the judge could be affected by the proceedings." Gay Judge's Prop 8 Decision Survives Bias Claim