shepard: the lawyers on either side of california s same sex marriage debate squaring off in a federal appeals court today. you ll remember earlier this year a federal judge ruled that the state s voter approved proposition 8 violates the united states constitution. specifically the equal protection clause because it defines a marriage as a union between a man and a woman. well, prop 8 supporters have since appealed that ruling. and today the appeals court heard arguments on whether the same sex marriage ban itself ghits amounts to discrimination and whether supporters of the ban even have the legal standing to apeel. trace gallagher with the news. is he live in our los angeles newsroom this afternoon and, trace, if those against gay marriage don t have the right to appeal, that ends this case, right? it does, shep, because, remember, those who filed this appeal one was a deputy court clerk in imperial county east of san diego along with the
The democrats paid a price for in the midterm elections in november. the in the says that if he had continued this fight it could have extended well into next year and held up those jobless benefits, those extended jobless benefits for people into next year. he says he will spend the next two years trying to make sure that the bush administration tax cuts for the wealthy don t become permanent. shepard? shepard: wendell goler live at the white house. much more on this throughout the night on fox news. the founder of wikileaks could soon be headed to court but there are conflicting reports as fox reports live tonight. julian assange s lawyer tells fox news he does not have a court date yet but that he is trying to set up a meeting with british police about the rape accusation that assange is facing in sweden. earlier today, his lawyer talked to judge andrew napolitano on freedom watch on the fox business. the attorneys saying he has been trying to arrange a meeting with swedish prosec
Anti-gay marriage group protect marriage.com. but those who support gay marriage say an appeal can only be filed by the state s governor or attorney general. here s attorney david boise of bush vs. gore fame back in 2000 arguing that point. listen. the deputy clerk or even the clerk, if the real clerk was here, would not have any standing to contest that issue or even litigate that issue. it is purely a ministerial function. of course, the other side says the judge that overturned prop 8 also overturned the will of 7 million california voters, shep. shepard: of course, separate from that is the issue of whether prop 8 is even okay under the constitution. and that s where things get heated here because those who are against gay marriage say that it should be defined only as a marriage between a man and a woman because they can have children. but then a judge asked today what about infertile couples, should they not be allowed to get married?