Well, it's done. After twice denying petitions by the backers of Prop 8 to put an immediate halt to gay marriages in California, the state Supreme Court today also denied their petition for an appeal of Judge Vaughn Walker's original 2010 decision that declared the measure unconstitutional.
As you may know, the U.S. Supreme Court's carefully worded decision in June rejected the Prop 8 folks' appeal not on its merits, but on the basis of standing. This led to their inevitable regrouping and assertion that the decision only applied to the two counties in which the original plaintiffs in the 2010 case lived, Alameda and Los Angeles. That was what they were trying to get the state's high court to affirm, and today the court issued an order denying a hearing of their appeal, with no further comment.
Last week also brought the withdrawal of a second appeal by San Diego Clerk Ernest Dronenburg, whose job was threatened with the San Diego County Board of Supervisors found out what he was doing.
Maybe, just maybe, this means Prop 8 is finally dead and buried. But we're looking forward to what the marriage-intolerant come up with for 2016.
