Two gay couples challenging the
constitutionality of Proposition 8, California's gay marriage ban,
have asked the Supreme Court to refuse to hear an appeal by gay
marriage foes.
Two lower courts have sided with
plaintiffs, and last month Prop 8 backers asked the high court to
review the case.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs, led by Ted
Olson and David Boies, argued in a court filing on Friday that while
the case could be an “attractive vehicle” for determining
“whether the States may discriminate against gay men and lesbians
in the provision of marriage licenses,” the court's review is “not
warranted” because a lower court had already arrived at the correct
legal conclusion.
“[T]he Ninth Circuit found that
eliminating the ability of gay and lesbian couples to have their
relationships designated as marriages – and relegating them to
separate and unequal domestic partnerships – achieves nothing
except the marginalization of gay and lesbian individuals and their
relationships, and therefore cannot withstand constitutional
scrutiny. That holding is fully consistent with this Court's
jurisprudence, which has long held that marginalizing a group of
citizens for its own sake violates the Fourteenth Amendment.”
Should the Supreme Court decide against
taking the case, the marriages of gay and lesbian couples would
resume in California.