In the News: Calif. gay marriage opponents appeal Prop. 8 ruling

from USA Today.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – The backers of California's same-sex marriage ban petitioned a federal appeals court Tuesday to review a split decision by three of its judges that struck down Proposition 8, opting for now to avoid taking their chances before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Lawyers for the religious and legal groups behind the ban beat a midnight deadline to ask the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear the 2-1 decision that declared Prop. 8 to be a violation of the civil rights of gay and lesbian Californians.

If they had not sought reconsideration, the three judges could have ordered the ruling to take effect in another seven days, clearing the way for same-sex marriages to resume in the state.

Instead, same-sex marriages will remain on hold at least until the 9th Circuit decides to accept or reject the rehearing petition. The court does not face a deadline for doing so.

"After careful consideration, we determined that asking for reconsideration by the full 9th Circuit is in the best interests of defending Prop. 8," said Andy Pugno, general counsel for the Protect Marriage coalition. "This gives the entire 9th Circuit a chance to correct this anomalous decision by just two judges overturning the vote of seven million Californians."

Legal experts said supporters of the ban could be exhausting all their options before trying to take the case to the Supreme Court.

"It's another procedural opportunity they have, so why give up another bite at the apple?" Stanford University law professor Jane Schacter said about the decision to appeal to the 9th Circuit.

If a majority of the 9th Circuit's 25 actively serving judges agree to reconsider the case, it would be assigned to a panel that includes the chief judge and 10 randomly selected judges. Schacter, however, said the 9th Circuit does not often reverse the decisions of member judges.

Schacter suggested Prop. 8 backers might believe a ruling by a bigger appeals court panel could yield a decision more likely to pique the interest of the Supreme Court. The two judges who rejected Prop. 8 two weeks ago focused their decision exclusively on California's ban, even though the court has jurisdiction in nine western states.

...Prop. 8 amended the California Constitution to outlaw same-sex marriages five months after the state Supreme Court threw out a pair of statutes that limited marriage to a man and woman. The proposition was approved by voters in November 2008 with 52 percent of the vote.

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