[JURIST] The Supreme Court of California [official website] on Wednesday ended [order, PDF] legal challenges over Proposition 8 [text; JURIST news archive] California’s now-defunct same-sex marriage ban. Supporters such as Protect Marriage [advocacy website] had argued that a sole judge lacked the authority to overturn a state constitutional amendment, that applicable injunctions permitting same-sex marriage applied in at most two counties, and that state officials had overstepped their authority by ordering California county clerks to grant same-sex marriage licenses. The Supreme Court’s refusal to revive Proposition 8 ends the last remaining legal challenge to same-sex marriage in the state.

In June the Supreme Court ruled [JURIST report] in Hollingsworth v. Perry [SCOTUSblog backgrounder] that Proposition 8 supporters lacked standing to appeal the district court’s order striking down Proposition 8. When Proposition 8 was initially struck down [JURIST report] in 2010 by US District Judge Vaughn Walker, then-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and former attorney general and current Governor Jerry Brown, who were originally defendants in the lawsuit, refused to continue defending the measure on appeal [JURIST report]. This left Protect Marriage and other groups to continue to defend the law and appeal the ruling.