The California Supreme Court will
consider a request by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals on whether proponents of Proposition 8, California's gay
marriage ban, have legal standing to defend it in court, the Los
Angeles Times reported.
The justices will meet behind closed
doors on Wednesday to decide the matter.
After a federal judge in San Francisco
declared the law unconstitutional, proponents of the 2008 ballot
measure appealed the ruling.
But the named defendants in the case –
Arnold Schwarzenegger, as governor, and Governor Jerry Brown, as
attorney general – refused to defend the law in court, prompting
ProtectMarriage.com, the conservative group that put Proposition 8 on
the ballot, and Imperial County, to step in.
The three-judge appeals panel heard
oral arguments in the case in December. The court said it “cannot
consider this important constitutional question” until it resolves
the issue of legal standing, and asked the high court to rule on the
matter.
During its televised hearing, the
court hinted that it was inclined to uphold the lower court's ruling.
But in his concurring opinion Stephen
R. Reinhardt, considered the court's most liberal judge, said
proponents of Proposition 8 “have a strong argument” on legal
standing.