One of two lawsuits pending for review by the California Supreme Court that are attempting to reinstate Prop 8 is being withdrawn. The suit, filed last month by San Diego County Clerk Ernest Dronenburg with the help of anti-same-sex-marriage zealot Charles LiMandri, along with one filed by the proposition's original backers are both last-ditch efforts to halt gay marriages in California after the Supreme Court's decision to reject an earlier appeal based on standing.
The court has already rejected, in both cases, requests for stays of the 2010 decision striking down Prop 8 in order to halt gay marriages pending their appeals.
Dronenburg, as a county clerk, was being used by the anti-marriage camp in the hope that his standing as an official who performs marriages might open the window for another appeal to the high court, but it sounds like Dronenburg got in some hot water with his own county council over the move. He met with the San Diego County Board of Supervisors last week in a closed-door session after they apparently reprimanded him for seeking his own outside counsel and pursuing this lawsuit without their consent. (According to county rules, as a county official, he should only have been allowed to use the county counsel for filing lawsuits.)
The other lawsuit, filed by Protect Marriage, has still not been granted a full review by the CA Supreme Court, but Dronenburg says that he is withdrawing his suit because he feels his concerns will be addressed in the other suit. His attorney filed a one-sentence request for dismissal this week.
And did we mention this all just sour grapes and lame old people on the wrong side of history because they can't stand change? Yeah. But it's not likely to quiet down completely for some time.
[Appeal]
[U-T San Diego]
