...The 9th Circuit (click title to entry - thank you) judges are weighing an appeal of a federal judge's finding last August that Proposition 8, which bars same-sex marriage in California, violates the constitutional rights of gay people to equal protection. The appeal was filed by the ballot-measure group ProtectMarriage.com, which is represented by private attorneys.
U.S. Supreme Court opinions have doubted the authority of ballot-measure proponents to step in and defend measures in federal court that state authorities decline to defend.
One especially relevant U.S. Supreme Court opinion stemmed from a case originating in Arizona, where ballot measure proponents attempted to defend an English-only law that state officials refused to defend against a federal constitutional challenge....
A "Proposition" is a measure voted on by the electorate. Once it is passed into law the STATE has the authority to enforce it. If the law is challenged in a court of law and defeated it is up to the STATE to decide the MERITS of the appeal. If the STATE decides the costs and outcomes are adverse to any appeal then the propositon is defeated.
A 'citizen group' is NOT the State and cannot bring suit. It is precedent because the 'citizen group' ONLY has the authority to bring the issue to ballot. A citizen's group is NOT a sovereign entity.
