Quote:
Originally Posted by Vendzilla
They said prop 8 was unconstitutional, that way they didn't have to rule on the constitutionality of all states recognizing gay marriage. So that's exactly that
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No, they did not even address it.
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday left for dead California's same-sex marriage ban, Proposition 8, but the question of gay and lesbian couples' constitutional right to marry remains very much alive.
By a 5-4 vote, the justices held in Hollingsworth v. Perry that
the traditional marriage activists who put Proposition 8 on California ballots in 2008 did not have the constitutional authority, or standing, to defend the law in federal courts after the state refused to appeal its loss at trial.
?We have never before upheld the standing of a private party to defend the constitutionality of a state statute when state officials have chosen not to,? Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. ?We decline to do so for the first time here.?
The judgement of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit was vacated and the case remanded with instructions to dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction.