Calif. justices hear Prop 8 speakers

BERKELEY, Calif., Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Six of the seven members of the California Supreme Court attending a conference Friday listened to arguments about same-sex marriage, observers said.

Proposition 8, the successful effort by opponents of same-sex marriage to amend the California state constitution to ban such unions in the wake of a state Supreme Court ruling in May legalizing it, was one topic of discussion at a conference held in Berkeley, Calif., on the role of the court, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar chaired the discussion, which came as several lawsuits have been filed to overturn Proposition 8.

She listened to speakers such as Pepperdine University Law School Dean Kenneth Starr, who had opposed same-sex marriage. Starr called the May decision "the most important decision handed down in the United States by any court," the Times said.

Also speaking was Santa Clara University Law School Professor Gerald Uelmen, who said the court could not overturn Proposition 8 without also admitting that its May 15 decision improperly revised the state constitution, the newspaper reported.