By Bill Mears, CNN Supreme Court Producer
WASHINGTON (CNN) – Supporters of California’s voter-approved ballot measure banning same-sex marriage in the state asked the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday to allow it go back into effect.
At issue is whether the Constitution’s 14th Amendment guarantee of “equal protection” prevents states from defining marriage as only between one man and one woman.
The justices will decide in coming weeks whether to put this hot-button social issue on its docket. If it agrees to take the appeal, oral arguments would likely be held early next year.
In February, a federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled the measure unconstitutional. In its split decision, the panel found that Proposition 8 “works a meaningful harm to gays and lesbians” by denying their right to civil marriage.
The case is Hollingsworth v. Perry.
