This is a bit of a surprise. In a move that buys time before the ultimate reckoning from the Supreme Court, the proponents of Proposition 8 asked for an en banc re-hearing of their case before the full Ninth Circuit. This will add a step to the legal outcome of Prop 8, which a three-judge panel on the Ninth Circuit just ruled in violation of federal law.

An en banc ruling in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals contends that corporations are actually not people, when the case in question considers an individual writing and mailing “death threats” to corporations.

A federal court has upheld on appeal a ruling that telecom companies can receive legal immunity from Congress for participating in the warrantless wiretapping program under George W. Bush.

Must be nice to have an almost unlimited number of bigoted rubes willing to open their wallets whenever h8 comes calling. Case in point: Charles Cooper, losing lead attorney guiding the ProtectMarriage consiglieres to defeat at every single stage of the Prop 8 trial, announced Oh, Hell Yes, They Will Appeal Chief Judge James Ware’s eloquent, swift beatdown of their horrific motion to order Judge Vaughn Walker to recuse himself because, you know what — he’s Ghey!

Thanks to a decision by the Obama Administration’s Department of Justice in siding with drug manufacturers, price discounts for drugs provided to government supported hospitals and clinics are now in jeopardy.

Barack Obama’s Department of Justice today argued in a federal court that the “repeal” of Don’t-Ask-Don’t-Tell signed by the President (which provides a pathway via certification to the Congress by the military, the Secretary of Defense, and the President that the DoD is ready to end DADT) means that there’s no need for them to continue their appeal of the Log Cabin Republicans’ case in the Ninth Circuit.

With one judge dissenting, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a stay of the injunction of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy issued by U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips, pending the outcome of the government’s appeal of Log Cabin Republicans v. United States.

Thirty percent of US Attorney spots are either still under Bush appointees or under “acting status” and well over 100 Federal judicial seats are empty with far less that half even having a pending nominee. Republicans have put the appointment of conservative judges at the top of their agenda; Democrats and Obama need to get with the program.

So, yes — victory. But hate is strong. It may not have prevailed today, but we can certainly count on its being around for a while. Stay safe out there, people: there’s nothing like a successful court battle to bring out the bashers and haters lurking in the underbelly of the American psyche.