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FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALSFOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
 
C
ATHOLIC
L
EAGUE FOR
R
ELIGIOUS AND
C
IVIL
R
IGHTS
;R
ICHARD
S
ONNENSHEIN
; V
ALERIE
M
EEHAN
,
Plaintiffs-Appellants,
No. 06-17328v.D.C. No.
C
ITY AND
C
OUNTY OF
S
AN
CV-06-02351-MHPF
RANCISCO
; A
ARON
P
ESKIN
; T
OM
OPINIONA
MMIANO
in his official capacity asa Supervisor, Board of Supervisors, City and County of San Francisco,
 Defendants-Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Courtfor the Northern District of CaliforniaMarilyn H. Patel, District Judge, PresidingArgued and SubmittedJuly 18, 2008—San Francisco, CaliforniaFiled June 3, 2009Before: Procter Hug, Jr., Richard A. Paez, andMarsha S. Berzon, Circuit Judges.Opinion by Judge Paez;Concurrence by Judge Berzon
6579
Case: 06-17328 06/03/2009 Page: 1 of 25 DktEntry: 6943153
 
COUNSEL
Robert J. Muise, Thomas More Law Center, Ann Arbor,Michigan, for the appellants.Vince Chhabria, City Attorney’s Office of San Francisco, SanFrancisco, California, for the appellees.
6582C
ATHOLIC
L
EAGUE
v. S
AN
F
RANCISCO
Case: 06-17328 06/03/2009 Page: 2 of 25 DktEntry: 6943153
 
OPINION
PAEZ, Circuit Judge:Appellants, Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights,Dr. Richard Sonnenshein, and Valerie Meehan (collectively,“Catholic League” or “the League”), appeal the dismissal of their civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for failure tostate a claim. At issue is the constitutionality of a non-bindingresolution adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Cityand County of San Francisco (“the Board”) concerning theadoption of children by same-sex couples and the CatholicChurch’s position against such adoptions. Catholic Leagueargues that in adopting the resolution the Board expressed dis-approval of the Catholic religion in violation of the FirstAmendment’s Establishment Clause. Because we concludethat the resolution passes constitutional scrutiny, we affirm.
1
I.
In March, 2006, the Board passed a non-binding resolution,Res. No. 168-06, titled: “Resolution urging Cardinal Levadato withdraw his directive to Catholic Charities forbidding theplacement of children in need of adoption with same-sex cou-ples.” (“Resolution”). The Resolution provides in full:
Resolution urging Cardinal William Levada, inhis capacity as head of the Congregation for theDoctrine of the Faith at the Vatican, to withdrawhis discriminatory and defamatory directive thatCatholic Charities of the Archdiocese of SanFrancisco stop placing children in need of adop-tion with homosexual households
.WHEREAS, It is an insult to all San Franciscanswhen a foreign country, like the Vatican, meddles
1
We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291.
6583C
ATHOLIC
L
EAGUE
v. S
AN
F
RANCISCO
Case: 06-17328 06/03/2009 Page: 3 of 25 DktEntry: 6943153
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gypsyjeff

Did anyone expect the 9th Circuit to rule any other way - isn't S.F. where the Court sits?

reply06 / 06 / 2009
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