Court set to rule on Prop. 8 challenge

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SAN FRANCISCO, June 4 (UPI) -- A U.S. appeals court said Monday it is set to announce whether it will review a ruling overturning California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco scheduled an announcement for 10 a.m. PDT Tuesday on whether it will consider a February ruling by a three-judge panel that Proposition 8 -- approved in a November 2008 referendum -- was an unconstitutional violation of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

"Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples," the panel concluded. "The Constitution simply does not allow for laws of this sort."

If the court reviews the February ruling, it would assign the matter to a panel of 11 judges and it could take months -- perhaps longer than one year -- to resolve the matter, the Los Angeles Times reported.

If the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals declines to consider the matter further, sponsors of Proposition 8 could appeal the three-judge panel's ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, the newspaper said.