ADF response to Calif. Supreme Court’s decision to hear 9th Cir. question in marriage amendment case

SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to answer a question from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on whether the official proponents of Proposition 8 have legal standing to defend California’s marriage amendment when state officials refused to do so in the Perry v. Schwarzenegger case.

“Politicians should not be able to nullify a democratic act of the people by refusing to defend it,” said Alliance Defense Fund Litigation Staff Counsel Jim Campbell. “The people of California have a right to be defended, so the official proponents of Proposition 8 must be allowed to step in and defend that law. Otherwise, state officials will succeed in indirectly invalidating a measure that they had no power to strike down directly.”

ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.