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LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...,2303003.story

The California Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday on whether conservatives who sponsored Proposition 8 are entitled to appeal last year's federal ruling that overturned the 2008 same-sex marriage ban.

The court's ruling, due 90 days after argument, will determine whether all initiative sponsors in California are legally entitled to defend their measures in state court when the governor and the attorney general refuse.

If the court rules against the initiative backers, then a federal appeals court is more likely to rule that ProtectMarriage.com, the sponsor of Proposition 8, also lacks standing under federal law and "Proposition 8 dies because no one will defend it," said Vikram Amar, UC Davis constitutional law professor.

"I don't think it is open-and-shut either way," Amar said. "If sponsors of initiatives don't have standing, then you have the possibility that elected officials like governors and attorneys general can essentially undo an initiative by refusing to defend it."

On the other hand, giving initiative sponsors the right to defend their measures when state officials refuse is also problematic, he said.

"Just because someone sponsors an initiative doesn't mean they are good representatives of the voters, because the voters never chose the sponsors," he said.