Another Prop 8 case smear: Plaintiffs' experts are dubious because “many or most are in same-sex relationships”

Following Judge Vaughn Walker's landmark decision to strike down California's ban on same sex marriage, the right wing has falsely attacked him as an extremist member of the “liberal court” and pushed the ridiculous argument that as a gay man who may be in a long-term relationship, he should have recused himself from the case.

In reality, Walker was nominated by Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush and has been praised by Republican lawmakers, and as we've pointed out, if Walker should have recused himself because he was gay, by that logic, straight judges who have ruled against gay rights should have recused themselves from those cases.

The recusal argument is so bogus that, out of the hundreds of documents filed in the Prop 8 case, not one includes a motion asking Walker to recuse himself.

Not content to merely attack Walker, the right is now questioning the plaintiffs' experts because “many or most are in same-sex relationships.” Here's the latest from NRO's Bench Memos:

Short version [of Walker's opinion]: Everything that plaintiffs' “experts” say is beyond dispute. E.g.: "[T]he evidence shows beyond any doubt that parents' genders are irrelevant to children's developmental outcomes." “The evidence shows conclusively that moral and religious views form the only basis for a belief that same-sex couples are different from opposite-sex couples.” (I would have thought that it's equally clear that “moral and religious views form the only basis for a belief” that the laws against murder should protect all persons.)

Judge Walker makes little or no reference to the fact that nearly all of plaintiffs' “experts” are political activists for gay causes and that many or most are in same-sex relationships. They're just neutral experts. In the same way that Walker is just a neutral judge.