Prop 8 case appealed to Supreme Court

Petition asks the high court to specifically review whether or not Prop 8 violates the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

SAN FRANCISCO — Supporters of California’s 2008 ballot measure limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples have asked the United States Supreme Court to review a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision that struck down the law in February.

The petition asks the high court to specifically review whether or not Proposition 8 — which passed in 2008 — violates the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Federal District Court judge Vaughn Walker struck down the law in August 2010 on grounds that it violated the Equal Protection clause, but the ruling earlier this year was much narrower in scope.

According to the Courage Campaign Prop 8 Trial Tracker blog, the defendants seek a SCOTUS review of the decision because it is “exceedingly important,” and the decision conflicts with or misapplies previous Supreme Court decisions.

If the Supreme Court does not overturn the Ninth Court’s decision, a ruling in favor of Perry v. Brown would see marriage rights restored to same-sex couples in California, but perhaps not other states, which the Ninth Circuit may have allowed for in their its ruling, some legal scholars believe.