Dueling briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court in the Proposition 8 case Hollingsworth v. Perry have revived the debate over whether two California federal judges involved in the case at earlier stages should have recused themselves.
A brief filed by Edward Whelan of the Ethics and Public Policy Center cites "the egregious course of misconduct" by U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker, who presided over the trial on Prop. 8, the 2008 California ballot initiative that declared only opposite-sex marriage as valid. Among other assertions, Whelan claims that Walker "had a legal duty to disclose" before the trial that he was in a same-sex relationship that could have been affected by his ultimate ruling. Walker declared the measure unconstitutional and disclosed his relationship after the trial. He said he did not think recusal was required.
