SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that it will not issue a stay of Proposition 8 and granted a motion by defenders of Proposition 8 led by an ADF-allied attorney to intervene in a lawsuit filed against the new marriage amendment.
"In America, we respect the results of fair elections," said ADF Senior Counsel Glen Lavy. "We look forward to working with allied attorney Andy Pugno to protect the people’s will expressed in Proposition 8, which restored the definition of marriage to the California Constitution. The lawsuits against the amendment are just one more effort by the far-left to redefine marriage."
A court petition filed by groups dissatisfied with the decision of California voters to protect marriage asked for an immediate stay of Proposition 8, which voters approved Nov. 4 (
www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4740). Wednesday, the court denied the request, allowed Proposition 8 official proponents to intervene as defendants in the case, and set a deadline of Dec. 19 for the submission of briefs.
Multiple lawsuits filed with the high court--including
Strauss v. Horton,
Tyler v. State of California, and
City of San Francisco v. Horton--claim that Proposition 8 illegally revised the constitution instead of amending it to restore the definition of marriage used throughout the history of the state.
Proposition 8 proponents asked the court to take the cases. The court granted all of the proponents’ requests, including taking the cases, denying the stay, and allowing intervention in the case to fully defend the vote of the California people. A copy of the court’s order is available at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/HortonOrder.pdf.
ADF attorneys were involved in defending Proposition 8 from attack prior to the election and also defended California’s Defense of Marriage Act, Proposition 22, before it was struck down by the California Supreme Court in May.
ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.
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