US: Supporters of Prop 8 file petition claiming equal marriage ban should still legally be in force
The supporters of California’s now defunct Proposition 8 ban on equal marriage, have begun legal proceedings to challenge the resumption of issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, accusing the courts of interpreting a Supreme Court ruling in the wrong way.
ProtectMarriage, the group that sponsored Proposition 8, and its ban on equal marriage back in 2008, has launched a doubled-edged legal attack on state officials’ interpretation of what the Supreme Court ruling means.
The Supreme Court specifically ruled that the ProtectMarriage had “no standing” to pursue an appeal of the 9th Circuit’s decision to strike down the ban after Governor Jerry Brown and Attorney General Kamala Harris declined to defend it.
In the petition filed on Friday by the organisation, it argued that Prop 8 technically should remain law because the Supreme Court did not directly rule on the constitutionality of same-sex marriages, in the case.
“The Ninth Circuit’s decision in Perry has been vacated,” The petition read, “hence there is no appellate decision holding that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.”
The ban should still remain in force, the petition concluded, reports the Associated Press.
The petition filed in the state Supreme Court also argued that the original lawsuit named only the county clerks of Los Angeles and Alameda counties, and that the ruling should not reach the other 56 county clerks.
“The Legislature has not imbued the State Registrar with supervisory authority or control over county clerks issuing marriage licenses,” the petition continued.
