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It's unwise to read too much into the tea leaves of the justices' questions during oral argument - but I have to say the comments and queries (or is that queeries?) during the Prop 8 hearing made the Supreme Court look like a medieval institution and the justices seem as if they lived behind dusty cloistered walls.
So it looks as if they will try for a narrow ruling affecting only California - but since quite a few realize how ridiculous and untenable it would be to say something is unconstitutional in one state but not the others - it may very well be they will deny standing in the case and leave either the 9th Circuit decision or the district court decision in place. Either way, Prop 8 is dead in California - but it's looking very unlikely gay marriage bans will be ruled generally unconstitutional ... yet.
If the 9th circuit decision is left standing, that has valuable precedent that can be used in other cases. If just the district court decision is upheld, there's little future value of that broad and landmark decision.
DOMA, on the other hand, appears to be unquestionably and door nail dead, based again on the uncertain but certainly more crystal clear questions and concerns expressed at the hearing this morning. (The audio hasn't been released quite yet, as I write this, so I haven't heard with my own ears as of now.)
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