Prop 8 Ruling: Will Gay Marriage Win At the Supreme Court?

Impact

Anyone waiting for the Supreme Court to legalize gay marriage altogether may want to hold their breath. As it comes to Prop 8, many speculate the Justices will invalidate the law, without even explicitly striking it down. The matter comes to down to a few legal technicalities. 

In 2010 Judge Vaughn Walker of the US District Court for the Northern District of California invalidated the law. California officials chose not to appeal the decision, as did the federal government. So the case was appealed, instead, by a group of conservative lawyers -- one being, Dennis Hollingsworth. 

Many predict the Supreme Court Justices will rule that Holllingsworth and his colleagues were not "entitled to appeal from the decisions of the lower courts." 

If Prop 8 is thrown out because of "standing" technicalities or something similar, Prop 8 will be illegal in the California. Many expect that gay marriage would return to the state in a matter of weeks. 

But this ruling would only affect California, and no other state. The Court could also rule that  Prop 8 and any similar law is unconstitutional because they impede on homosexuals' 5th amendment rights of due process and equal protection. But many believe the Court will not go this far, and will instead stick to a more narrow ruling. 

 

@chechkalu