California Supreme Court To Enter Proposition 8 Appeal “As Soon As Next Week”

Wednesday, reports the Los Angeles Times, newly appointed Chief Justice of California Tani Cantil-Sakayue said that the state Supreme Court may decide “as soon as next week” whether to weigh in on the federal Proposition 8 appeal. She also expressed hope that a Southern California Latino would be chosen to succeed departing Justice Carlos R. Moreno, the only Democrat on the court, and more importantly, the sole justice on the court to vote to overturn Proposition 8, the 2009 ballot measure that reinstated a ban on same sex marriage. The 9th United States Court of Appeals said in January that is cannot decide if the same sex marriage ban in constitutional until the state high court weighs in on whether the proposition sponsors hold the legal authority to defend the measure. A three-judge panel asked the California Supreme Court to determine if ballot proposition backers can defend voter-approved initiatives in court when state officials refuse to do so. The panel suggested that it would have to dismiss the case if there is no state high court input. Previously the state court has been highly deferential to initiatives. If the court rules that initiative backers hold special status under state law, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals would be more likely to rule on the constitutionally of Proposition 8. Lawyers and legal experts following the case suspect that the 9th Circuit was prepared to dismiss the appeals by backers of Proposition 8 on the grounds that only state officials can challenge the trial court’s ruling against the measure. Gay rights attorneys assert that such a ruling would mean the end of Proposition 8, but it would have no direct effect on same sex marriage outside California. Chief Justice Cantil-Sakayue has declined to reveal her views about same sex marriage. As an appeals court judge in Sacramento, during the six month window in 2008 when same sex marriage was legal, she did perform a wedding for a same sex couple “as a favour to someone else who had a family emergency,” she said. “I didn’t have any qualms about it.”