Gay-Marriage Opponents Lose Bid to Stop California Ceremonies

11 years ago | Posted in: Laws | 885 Views

WASHINGTON—Gay-marriage opponents Sunday lost a last-ditch bid to reinstate California’s Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage, when a Supreme Court justice denied a motion to suspend the wedding ceremonies, which resumed in the state last week.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in San Francisco, lifted its stay Friday of a 2010 federal district court order invalidating Proposition 8, following Wednesday’s Supreme Court decision dismissing the appeal of that order.

In an emergency petition filed with Justice Anthony Kennedy, who oversees the Ninth Circuit, Proposition 8 backers said the appeals court lacked authority to issue its Friday order because the Supreme Court hadn’t yet sent out a certified copy of its Wednesday ruling, and because Supreme Court rules generally require a 25-day delay before rulings become final.

On Sunday, Justice Kennedy denied the application without comment, a Supreme Court spokesman said.

Justice Kennedy was among four dissenters from the opinion, by Chief Justice John Roberts, dismissing the appeal of the district-court decision. The majority held that the appeal was invalid because only the state of California had legal standing to appeal a decision invalidating one of its laws, and it had declined to do so.

The Supreme Court’s ruling effectively reinstated the district court decision, which the Ninth Circuit had stayed during the appeals process.

Same-sex weddings, which had begun under a California Supreme Court ruling until ended by the November 2008 Proposition 8 vote, resumed Friday almost immediately after the Ninth Circuit lifted its stay of the district-court ruling.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris officiated at the first such ceremony. The couple heading the suit that invalidated Proposition 8, Kristin Perry and Sandra Stier, was married at San Francisco City Hall.

Same-sex marriages were to resume Monday in other California counties, including Los Angeles and Orange counties, officials said.

Under Supreme Court rules, Proposition 8 backers may ask another justice to reinstate the order blocking same-sex marriages, and any justice who receives such an application may also refer it to the full court for action.

@The Wall Street Journal

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