While it looked that way to us as well, you can't always tell from oral arguments.
The California Supreme Court today appeared ready to give sponsors of Proposition 8 the legal right to defend the state's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, expressing major concerns about allowing the law to be negated without a fight because the attorney general and governor refuse to back it in court.
During an hour of arguments in San Francisco, most of the justices at one point or another hammered away at Theodore Olson, a lawyer for same-sex couples who argued that supporters of a ballot measure do not have the legal authority to replace state officials in defending or enforcing California laws.
... Based on the barrage of questions aimed at Olson, a former U.S. Solicitor General under President George W. Bush, the Supreme Court is inclined to say that Proposition 8 supporters do have that right, which would push the court fight forward. Whatever the Supreme Court decides, the case will return to the 9th Circuit, which has the final say on whether the appeal can proceed.
The California Supreme Court has 90 days to issue its ruling.
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