Proponents of Proposition 8 asked the California Supreme Court on Friday to stop same-sex weddings in the state.
California voters passed the wedding ban, known as Proposition 8, in 2008 but a San Francisco federal judge struck down the initiative as unconstitutional. Last month the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that backers of the ban did not have the legal right to appeal.
Immediately after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit lifted its stay of the district court order on June 28, California State Registrar Tony Agurto ordered all county clerks to begin issuing marriage licenses in violation of state law.
“The man-woman definition of marriage, as passed by the voters, is still a valid part of our state constitution. Yet county clerks statewide are lawlessly defying that law by issuing gender-neutral marriage licenses. We are asking California’s Supreme Court to restore the rule of law and the public’s confidence in the integrity of the initiative process,” said Andrew Pugno, general counsel for Proposition 8’s official proponents.
Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed the petition together with Andrew P. Pugno, general counsel for ProtectMarriage.com, but was denied by Justice Anthony Kennedy.
"The more than 7 million Californians that approved Proposition 8 have a right to see the rule of law--and the constitutional initiatives that the people enact--respected,” ADF's Senior Counsel Austin R. Nimocks said.
SaveCalifornia.com, also supporters of traditional marriage, explained that the jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court that ruled against Proposition 8 only extends to 15 counties, in the San Francisco Bay Area and along the Northern California coast.
"Therefore, homosexual 'marriages' are unlawful in at least 43 California counties," SaveCalifornia.com said.
