9th U.S. Circuit Refuses To Lift Stay On Prop 8

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling today refusing to lift Judge Vaughn Walker's stay on the enforcement of Proposition 8 while the ruling is appealed. Currently the California Supreme Court is considering a question of whether official proponents of a ballot measure can defend an initiative in court when the state's official representatives refuse to do so.

Here's the official text of the order from the 3-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals:

Having considered all of the factors set forth in Nken v. Holder, 129 S. Ct. 1749, 1756 (2009), and all of the facts and circumstances surrounding Plaintiffs’ motion to vacate the stay pending appeal, as well as the standard for vacatur set forth in Southeast Alaska Conservation Council v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 472 F.3d 1097, 1101 (9th Cir. 2006), we deny Plaintiffs’ motion at this time.

The ruling means that Proposition 8 will remain in effect until after the California Supreme Court rules later in 2011 on the standing question and the 9th Circuit panel issues a ruling either accepting the standing determination from the California Supreme Court (which it does NOT have to do, since there are very different standards for standing under federal and state law) and issues its own ruling on the constitutionality of Proposition 8.