High Court takes no action on Prop 8 case today

SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Supreme Court took no action today on Proposition 8, California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage.

An appeal by sponsors of the 2008 voter initiative was not on an order list released by the Supreme Court this morning showing cases for which the court granted or denied review.

The court also took no action today on several related cases concerning the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

The court's next conference to consider pending appeals will take place on Friday. That conference is the last until next year.

In the Proposition 8 case, the initiative's sponsors are appealing a decision in which the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco declared the measure unconstitutional.

That decision has been put on hold and Proposition 8 has remained in effect during the appeal.

If the Supreme Court declines to hear the appeal, the 9th Circuit ruling will become the final decision in the case and same-sex marriages could resume in California within a few days.

If the high court grants review, it would schedule a hearing this spring and would issue a decision by the end of June.

The court has no deadline for acting on the appeal, but an announcement today was considered possible because the case was on the agenda of the justices' private conference on Friday.

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