The U.S. Supreme Court denied Proposition 8 supporters’ request to halt same-sex “marriages” in the state of California after the Ninth Circuit Court of California allowed licenses to be issued in the state on Friday. Supporters of heterosexual marriage argue that the lower court should not have issued same-sex licenses prior to the receipt of the Supreme Court’s final disposition.
The Supreme Court is supposed to give those in opposition to a ruling 25 days in which to ask for the court’s reconsideration; however, the state of California began to issue same-sex “marriage” licenses on Friday, ignoring the waiting period. Proposition 8 sponsors then petitioned that the Supreme Court halt the legalization of same-sex unions until the Court issued its final disposition, according to due process of the law. “Today’s petition asks the Supreme Court to find that the Ninth Circuit had no jurisdiction to order same-sex marriages on Friday, since the case had not yet come back down from the nation’s highest court,” proponents of the petition said.
Proposition 8 was first passed by voters in California in 2008, and defines marriage as being between a man and a woman. The proposition was later overturned by the Ninth Circuit Court in California, and supporters of the amendment appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal on Wednesday, upholding the Ninth Circuit Court’s ruling in favor of homosexual unions.
“This kind of lawlessness just further weakens the public’s confidence in the legitimacy of our legal system. We hope the Supreme Court will step in and restore some order here,” supporters of the proposition said, with hope that the court would halt same-sex licenses from being issued while they requested that the Supreme Court reconsider their ruling. The Supreme Court denied the petition on Sunday, and homosexual unions continued to be legalized in the state of California.
Kennedy, the associate justice who decides such motions pertaining to the 9th Circuit, declined the Proposition 8 legal team’s request even though court rules require the 9th Circuit to wait for a certified copy of the judgment from the Supreme Court before taking action. The high court has not yet issued its certified judgment.
“Everyone on all sides of the marriage debate should agree that the legal process must be followed,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Austin R. Nimocks. “The 9th Circuit has failed to abide by its own word that the stay would remain in place until final disposition by the Supreme Court. When courts act contrary to their own statements, the public’s confidence in the justice system is undermined.”
When the 9th Circuit issued the stay, it stated that “the stay shall continue until final disposition by the Supreme Court.” The 9th Circuit acknowledged Wednesday that disposition would not occur until at least 25 days from June 26, but it then lifted the stay on Friday without explanation.
“The more than 7 million Californians that voted to enact Proposition 8 deserve nothing short of the full respect and due process our judicial system provides,” Nimocks said.
