In Keen News Service:

9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Reinhardt rejected a motion that he recuse himself from hearing an appeal from Yes on 8 last December. Reinhardt is married to the executive director of the Southern California ACLU.  The motion filed by Yes on 8 attorney Charles Cooper asserted that, because the ACLU has been involved in challenging Proposition 8, Reinhardt should disqualify himself from hearing the appeal. Reinhardt and his 9th Circuit panel colleagues have yet to rule on Yes on 8’s appeal.

Now, it is up to U.S. District Court Chief Judge James Ware to decide where the recusal bar should have been set when Vaughn Walker heard the case challenging Proposition 8. At the time of the trial, Walker had given no public statement indicating that he was gay and in a relationship for 10 years with another man. And it is common for judges to look to the Supreme Court and other courts for guidance, in making their own rulings.

So, it won’t be a surprise next Monday if attorneys for the proponents of Proposition 8 trot out Justice Alito’s recent recusal statement in support of their argument that Walker should have recused himself from deciding the landmark case involving Proposition 8.

Justice Alito's recent recusal statement is explained in the full Keen News Service story.