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Appeals court turns to state on key Prop. 8 issue
Loading ...California’s highest court, which has issued three rulings on same-sex marriage in less than seven years, was handed another crucial question Tuesday – whether sponsors of a voter-approved measure banning gay and lesbian weddings have the right to defend it in court.
The state Supreme Court was brought into the fray by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which heard arguments last month about whether Proposition 8, the 2008 initiative outlawing same-sex marriage, is constitutional.
Then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and ex-Attorney General Jerry Brown refused to appeal a federal judge’s ruling in August that the measure unconstitutionally discriminated based on sexual orientation and gender. So the future of the case depends on whether Prop. 8′s sponsor, a conservative religious coalition called Protect Marriage, has legal standing – the right to represent the interests of the state and its voters.
If not, the federal appeals court could uphold Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling and restore same-sex marriage in California – legalized briefly by a 2008 state Supreme Court ruling – without deciding whether Prop. 8 is constitutional.
Continue Reading at SFGate.
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