Supreme Court sends Prop. 8 back to California

The original version of this article contained an error and has been changed. See the bottom of the article for additional information.

In a significant victory for gay rights in California, Gov. Jerry Brown called for the state to once again allow same-sex individuals to marry, after the Supreme Court ruled on two historic cases involving same-sex marriage today.

Early this morning, the Supreme Court sent the case of Proposition 8, California’s same-sex marriage ban, back to the state and granted married same-sex couples federal benefits and recognition.

The court ruled 5-4 that proponents of Proposition 8 – California’s same-sex marriage ban – did not have the authority to defend the ban in court. Instead, state officials who were in charge of enforcing the ban were supposed to defend it, but they had declined to do so.

Private individuals who defended Prop. 8 had no official standing in the case, making the case invalid, according to the Supreme Court’s opinion. The court, therefore, ruled that neither it nor the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had the authority to rule on the case.

Shortly after the decision was released, Brown called for the Department of Public Health to order that state counties begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples as soon as stay on the Prop. 8 case is lifted. This could be as soon as 25 days, according to the L.A. Times.

“Make no mistake – same-sex marriage is returning to California,” said Adam Winkler, a UCLA law professor.

The Supreme Court also struck down a portion of the Defense of Marriage Act today, a historic decision that gives legally married same-sex couples the same federal rights as other married couples.

The portion of the 1996 law that was rejected denied federal recognition to same-sex marriages in states that have legalized the practice.

The court’s 5-4 decision said the act was “unusual” for allowing the federal government to reject same-sex marriages that were granted by the state, while recognizing other marriages protected by state law.

“(The Defense of Marriage Act) singles out a class of persons deemed by a State entitled to recognition and protection to enhance their own liberty,” the court’s opinion reads.

President Barack Obama sent out a tweet praising the decision, calling it “a historic step forward for #MarriageEquality.”

[Updated at 11:15 a.m. Obama later released a statement praising the Supreme Court for turning down the Defense of Marriage Act.

“This was discrimination enshrined in law. It treated loving, committed gay and lesbian couples as a separate and lesser class of people,” the statement read. “This ruling is a victory for couples who have long fought for equal treatment under the law.”]

Same-sex marriage, however, is still far from winning complete progress, Winkler said.

“These cases are a victory for marriage equality, but only a partial victory,” Winkler said. “Nothing in these cases requires any other state to allow gay marriage.”

The Supreme Court did not recognize same-sex marriage as a constitutional right, as some were hoping it would do, and it did not require all states to recognize it. After the court’s decisions, same-sex marriage is still only legal in 12 states and the District of Columbia.

“The scope and reach of these decisions is very limited,” Winkler said. “The court purposefully stepped back from making a broad and sweeping decision.”

California has been grappling with the issue of same-sex marriage since 2008, when voters approved Prop. 8 and restricted the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman.

The proposition’s passage spurred protests across the state and several challenges in court. A federal appeals court declared the measure unconstitutional last year, but a “staying order” from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals paused the decision and kept the ban in place.

The Supreme Court agreed to take on Proposition 8’s case last December.

Compiled by Kristen Taketa, Bruin senior staff.

Correction: Same-sex marriage is legal in 12 states and the District of Columbia.

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