U.S. court: May Prop 8 backers defend ban?

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- A U.S. appeals court has asked the California Supreme Court to decide whether proponents of the state gay marriage ban can defend the ban in court.

The federal appeals court turned for advice to the state high court as the principal interpreter of state law.

After the state Supreme Court ruled same-sex couples could wed, California voters enacted the ban against same-sex marriage with 52 percent of the ballots in November 2008. But a federal judge struck Proposition 8 down, saying it was unconstitutional discrimination. That ruling was stayed until the federal appeals court decides the appeal.

The groups that put Prop 8 on the ballot are seeking the right to defend it in court. Incoming Gov. Jerry Brown, former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state's new Attorney General Kamala Harris all have refused to defend the marriage ban in court.

But the 9th U.S. Court of Appeals is trying to determine whether those groups that put Prop 8 on the ballot have the right, or "standing," to defend the ban.

The Los Angeles Times said the federal appeals court asked the California Supreme Court whether under state law the official backers of a ballot initiative have the right to defend it in court -- particularly when the governor and state attorney general decline to do so.