Emeritus Professor Michael Wald talked to AP’s Paul Elias about the California AG’s motion to resume same-sex marriages and the decision by alumnus and U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker to overturn Proposition 8:

California Attorney General Jerry Brown has filed a motion calling for resumption of same-sex weddings in the state.

Brown filed the motion after U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker overturned Proposition 8, California’s voter-approved gay marriage ban.

Walker ruled the law violates federal equal protections and due process laws.

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Legal experts such as Stanford University law professor Michael Wald said that Walker’s opinion was strongly worded, well-reasoned and could be difficult to overturn.

Wald said it’s significant that Walker made a voluminous “findings of fact” that showed Proposition 8 was unconstitutional. The “findings of fact” phrasing is important because appeals courts have to pay deference to those conclusions, essentially they have to assume that the findings are true.

“Walker held that there is one fundamental right to marry and excluding gays from enjoying that right is unconstitutional,” Wald said.