By Matt Baume (San Francisco, California) JAN 31 | Ted Olson, a lead attorney on the case against Prop 8, sent a letter to the California Supreme Court this week, explaining why, in his opinion, the court shouldn't get involved in the case.
His position boils down essentially to "none of your business," arguing that this is a matter for federal, not state, courts.
The case is stuck in a holding pattern right now, with everyone trying to figure out whether the anti-gay proponents of Proposition 8 can intervene and take the place of Attorney General Kamala Harris in defending Proposition 8.
If the California Supreme Court agrees with Ted Olson and doesn't intervene, then the case would be decided quickly and, most likely, against Proposition 8. From there, it would move to the United State Supreme Court.
But if the California Supreme Court does intervene, it would be mean lengthy delays, possibly over a year, and a win for the gay couples would be far less predictable. That's why Ted Olson wants the State Supreme Court to stay out of it.
Also filing letters were the proponents of Prop 8. They want the Supreme Court to intervene. And the city and county of San Francisco took a novel in-betweeny position, arguing that if the court takes the case, it should reformulate its approach in a way that is more favorable to the plaintiffs.
The California Supreme Court will rule on the matter sometime in the next few months. But in the mean time, this week's comment bait asks, should they get involved?
Ted Olson says no, the question of who defends a ballot proposition is spelled out in Article Three of the U S Constitution, and therefore a state court cannot rule on the matter.
The proponents of Prop 8 say yes, California Court Rules say that the Supreme Court can intervene when there is no controlling precedent.
And San Francisco says maybe, but if the court does intervene, they should consider that no one would be hurt if Prop 8 was overturned.
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