Prop 8: Anti-Gay Marriage Supporters Do Have Standing – What Today’s Decision Really Means

The California Supreme Court has decided to allow ProtectMarriage.com, the main supporter of Proposition 8 — the California ban on same-sex marriage — to be able to represent what they have claimed are their interests, and defend the measure in court. While the decision is not binding on the Ninth Circuit Federal District Court, which requested the state court to weigh in, no doubt the federal court will accept the decision in its determination whether or not to move forward.

While most — including Maggie Gallagher of NOM, the National Organization For Marriage — had publicly posited that the Prop 8 supporters (read: anti-​marriage equality) would lose this step, it appeared during oral arguments as if the judges, including newly-​seated Justice Goodwin Liu, would decide to allow Protect Marriage the legal right to appeal Judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling that Prop 8 is unconstitutional.

WATCH: Prop 8: Watch The Trial Over Who Has “Standing” To Appeal (Full Video)

The California State Supreme Court’s decision, based on arguments heard September 6, to allow the case to move forward means that Prop 8 ultimately, most likely, will be heard before the U.S. Supreme Court. Had the court denied “standing” to ProtectMarriage.com, Prop 8 would have died and California would have again allowed same-sex marriage.

“In response to the question submitted by the Ninth Circuit, we conclude, for the reasons discussed above, that when the public officials who ordinarily defend a challenged state law or appeal a judgment invalidating the law decline to do so, under article II, section 8 of the California Constitution and the relevant provisions of the Elections Code, the official proponents of a voter-approved initiative measure are authorized to assert the state’s interest in the initiative’s validity, enabling the proponents to defend the constitutionality of the initiative and to appeal a judgment invalidating the initiative,” a portion of today’s ruling reads.

While we cannot know when the federal court will offer its ruling after today’s decision, we are certain that any possibility for the Prop 8 case to move to the U.S. Supreme Court has passed, for this term.

Today’s decision has long-term ramifications for the ballot initiative process in California, where laws are regularly challenged at the voting box.

For more on today’s important ruling, come back later this afternoon for an analysis from The New Civil Rights Movement’s own legal analyst: attorney and law professor John Culhane.

Related to today’s decision: 

Prop 8: LGBT And Anti-Gay Groups Respond To Today’s Supreme Court Decision

Prop 8: Read Today’s California Supreme Court Decision (Full Text)

 

Also, read Chris Geidner’s post at MetroWeekly.