Prop 8 Case Sent to California Supreme Court
The Wall Street Journal reports:
Well, a funny thing happened while the Proposition 8 case was on its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit kicked the case sideways, over to the California Supreme Court. The court, in this 18-page opinion, ruled that it needed clarification from California’s highest court on a point of law before it could go forward with its review of the case.
Specifically, the Ninth Circuit wants California justices to clarify whether defendants in this case have standing. That is, whether the backers of ballot propositions can step in to defend voter-approved measures in court when state officials refuse to do so. Click here for the early AP story; here for all earlier LB coverage of the Prop. 8 case.
As the AP reports, the question is central to the future of Proposition 8 because former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and then-Attorney General Jerry Brown refused to appeal a San Francisco trial judge’s August decision striking down the ban as a violation of gay Californians’ civil rights.
