SAN FRANCISCO – The trial judge in California’s Proposition 8 lawsuit ordered the case closed today.

This new twist to the case does not further complicate matters, since proponents of Proposition 8 have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the lower court ruling that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional.

On top of that, the Ninth Circuit had already issued a stay on the lower court order to allow the Supreme Court to decide whether to hear the appeal. That means that the order issued today by District Judge James Ware cannot go into effect until the Supreme Court makes its decision, likely coming in October when the high court returns from recess.

About two hours after Ware issued his order, the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) tweeted this:

Today's court activity in the #Prop8 case is just housekeeping by the court, has nothing to do with judgement taking effect.

AFER's high-powered attorneys successfully argued in District Court and the Appeals Court that Prop 8 was unconstitutional. As for the Supreme Court appeal, AFER asked the high court to turn down the appeal so that gay and lesbian couples in California can once again marry.



Perry Closed



