9th Circuit Asks Calif. Supreme Court If Prop 8 Backers Have Standing in Same-Sex Marriage Appeal
When a federal judge in San Francisco struck down a voter-approved state ban on same-sex marriage last year, then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and then-Attorney General Jerry Brown declined to appeal. So backers of the ballot initiative stepped in to do so.
Now the federal appeals court to which they have taken their objections to Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional is looking to the California Supreme Court for guidance.
The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has asked the state’s highest court for a ruling on whether the ballot initiative backers have standing to proceed in the federal case, reports the Wall Street Journal Law Blog, which also links to today’s 9th Circuit opinion (PDF).
The 9th Circuit also rejected a motion to intervene by Imperial County officials on behalf of the Proposition 8 backers, saying that marriage law is a state matter, not a county matter, the L.A. Now blog of the Los Angeles Times reports.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Fed’l Judge in Calif. Strikes Prop 8 Same-Sex Marriage Ban; Appeal Expected”
ABAJournal.com: “Appeals Panel Weighs Narrow Ruling in Gay Marriage Case”
