Late this morning, word came that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has asked the California Supreme Court to determine if the official backers of Prop 8, the 2008 ballot initiative that banned gay marriage in the State of California, have the right to defend the measure in court. The proponents brought the appeal to the 9th Circuit late summer 2010, after Federal Judge Vaughn Walker determined Prop 8 to be unconstitutional.
California's now former Governor Schwarzenegger and current Governor Jerry Brown, have both refused to uphold the proposition's ban on gay marriage, as has recently elected Atty. Gov Kamala Harris. The 9th Circuit questioned the Prop 8 backer's legal right to continue the ban without this fundamental support from California's governing officials, and the answer to this question will determine whether the ban will stay in place, or be revoked.
The issue now lies in the hands of California's Supreme Court, who will decide whether Prop 8 proponents can legally defend their own initiative in the courtroom, after the State by in large has rejected all efforts to do so.
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