SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court on Thursday handed supporters of Proposition 8 the legal right to defend the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, sending the case back to a federal appeals court to resolve the broader questions at the heart of the constitutional showdown.
In a unanimous ruling, the justices sided with Proposition 8 sponsors, who have argued they should be able to appeal a federal judge’s decision last year striking down the same-sex marriage ban because the governor and attorney general have refused to defend the voter-approved law.
The state Supreme Court was emphatic that it would “undermine” the California ballot initiative process if the governor and attorney general can trump the voters by declining to defend such laws in the courts.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals triggered the Supreme Court’s intervention earlier this year, asking the justices to decide whether sponsors of ballot measures such as Proposition 8 have so-called “standing” under California law to defend those laws when top state officials abandon a case.
With that issue unresolved, the 9th Circuit put on hold its review of former Chief Judge Vaughn Walker’s August 2010 ruling that found Proposition 8 unconstitutional because it violates the equal protection rights of gay and lesbian couples.
The state Supreme Court’s ruling puts the 9th Circuit in a position to move forward and decide the merits of the legal challenge to Proposition 8. Two same-sex couples sued to overturn the law, hoping to push the controversial issue to the U.S. Supreme Court.
