Prop 8 ruling coming tomorrow

[ruggerson]

http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_15669981?nclick_check=1

A San Francisco federal judge on Wednesday will issue a much anticipated ruling in the Proposition 8 trial, a decision that will be a first step in a long legal process to decide whether California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage violates the federal constitution.

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker will release the ruling without holding a hearing, typical in deciding most cases. Bay Area federal court officials announced the scheduled release of the much-anticipated decision in a brief order on Tuesday.

Walker in January conducted an unprecedented trial in January in the challenge to Proposition 8, which restored the state's ban on the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry. He heard closing arguments in June, and now will decide the outcome of a lawsuit that maintains the same-sex marriage ban violates the equal protection rights of gay and lesbian couples.

Either way the judge decides, the losing side is expected to appeal the ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Most legal experts expect the case to ultimately be decided in the U.S. Supreme Court.