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Proposition 8 Supporters Do Have Standing
The California Supreme Court has just issued a ruling saying that the supporters of Proposition 8 who stepped in to defend the lawsuit against it did have standing to do so.
So what does this mean ?
Well assuming the 9th Circuit Court Of Appeals agrees with the ruling then the case would continue to proceed through the federal courts for a determination of the validity of the law itself. This would mean a review by the 9th circuit court over the coming months and then a probable review at the US Supreme court during the 2012-2013 session, with a final ruling sometime in 2013.
Of course the federal court could also decide that while the supporters had standing to step in to defend the suit in state court they did not have standing to do so in federal court (a US Supreme Court ruling seems to suggest lack of standing in such cases).
Either way it means a long road before the case is finally resolved.
One Response to “Proposition 8 Supporters Do Have Standing”
I question what possible purpose the Ninth Circuit could have had for requesting this decision from the California Supreme Court regarding a wholly irrelevant, though, admittedly, parallel issue. Whether a State would find that there was standing under the State’s constitution has no bearing whatsoever on whether there is Federal Constitutional standing to bring or defend a case. It seems to me that the Court of Appeals was seeking a reason to issue a one-line decision saying that surely, because there was no standing pursuant to the California State Constitution, there would be no federal standing.
The decision today has no bearing on what the Ninth Circuit can or should do, and, furthermore, this seems to have been either a delaying tactic, or the Ninth Circuit made up its mind, and was hoping for backup from the California Supreme Court. Either way, the California Supreme Court was wrong to grant this request. This is an issue not of California Law, but of the constitutional validity under the Federal Constitution, of a law enacted by California. As such, standing in the courts of the State of California is irrelevant.
That being said, good analysis, Patrick. I agree with you that, under the previous decisions of the Supreme Court, the Appellants Intervenors will likely lose, unless this becomes wholly political, and the Court grants standing simply because it involves gays.