WASHINGTON - The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) has praised a motion filed Monday in federal court in San Francisco to vacate the decision in Perry v Schwarzenegger finding a federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage.

“NOM welcomes the filing of this motion to vacate this unprecedented, unconstitutional and irrational ruling seeking to impose same-sex marriage on America,” said Brian Brown, NOM’s president. “The American people have a right to expect that their federal courts are conducted transparently and are free of bias. Unfortunately, Judge Walker’s failure to disclose that he is in a 10-year committed relationship with another man makes a mockery of the judicial process and under federal law should result in vacating his ruling.”

Federal law compels a judge to recuse himself from hearing a case whenever “his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” At a minimum, the law requires the judge to “provide full disclosure on the record of the basis of disqualification.” Additionally, the law requires recusal whenever he has “an interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding.” In the Perry case, Walker did not disclose that he is in a long-term, committed relationship with another man, as required by law. This fact was only revealed in a recent news interview after he retired from the bench. Further, since Walker’s ruling, if implemented, would allow him to marry his long-term, same-sex partner, he has an interest in the outcome of the case he decided.

“It is a long-held principle that a judge may not decide his own case, yet that is what Judge Walker has done,” Brown says. “His bias has been apparent from the moment this case landed in his courtroom. Before trial ever began, higher courts had to twice take the extremely rare action of reversing critical decisions he made. The case has been clouded by judicial bias from the start, and it’s time that this mockery of the judicial system be ended. Federal judges cannot be allowed to operate above the law. We call on the federal court to vacate the judgment and restore integrity to our judicial system”