Prop 8's Next Stop: Supreme Court

The 9th Circuit Court of appeals today refused to reconsider its ruling that Proposition 8 was discriminatory, clearing the way for the case to go to the Supreme Court, the San Jose Mercury News reports. Backers of the gay-marriage ban had asked the court to rehear the case with a special 11-judge panel, but as expected the court rejected that request with a brief order.

That leaves supporters nowhere to turn but to the highest court in the land. Gay weddings won't be allowed until they've had a chance to file that appeal. If the Supreme Court takes the case, it could wind up deciding for the entire country whether gay-marriage bans are fundamentally unconstitutional, but the 9th Circuit's ruling specifically avoided doing so. The court instead ruled as narrowly as possible, saying California's specific ban was discriminatory. (More US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals stories.)