but has decided to keep it in place until Aug. 18 at 5 p.m., “at which time defendants and all persons under their control or supervision shall cease to apply or enforce Proposition 8.” The delay will allow the Ninth Circuit to hear the stay issue before any marriage licenses are issued.
Among other things, Walker concluded that because the governor and the state attorney general have so far decided not to appeal the original decision, and indeed opposed the stay, there is no party who has standing to pursue an appeal. Specifically, the official Prop 8 proponents who defended the law in his court do not have standing, he held. He granted them intervention in the lawsuit only as adjuncts to the state defendants. But he did not resolve the question whether they have independent standing. Since no party with standing is pursuing an appeal, there is no likelihood that his ruling will be overruled.
This is an issue that’s been kicking around the Intenet (for a good intro to the topic by an SSM supporter, see here), and was raised in the Plaintiffs’ opposition to the stay. The official Prop 8 proponents apparently chose not to brief the standing issue in their support of a stay. It has been the great sleeper issue in the case. Nevertheless, Judge Walker’s views won’t be the final word on the topic.