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Hollingsworth v. Perry

Description:  In May 2009, attorneys representing two men and two women in California filed suit in a San Francisco federal court to challenge the constitutionality of a 2008 voter-approved state constitutional amendment that protects marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys are part of the legal team for ProtectMarriage.com, which intervened to defend the amendment. ProtectMarriage.com is the banner organization for the official proponents and campaign committee of Proposition 8. Both a federal district judge and a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit issued rulings against the amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review the case, Hollingsworth v. Perry. Oral arguments took place on March 26, 2013, and the court decided the case on June 26, 2013.  


Thursday, Feb 17, 2011
SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to answer a question from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on whether the official proponents of Proposition 8 have legal standing to defend California’s marriage amendment when state officials refused to do so in the Perry v. Schwarzenegger case.

“Politicians should not be able to nullify a democratic act of the people by refusing to defend it,” said Alliance Defense Fund Litigation Staff Counsel Jim Campbell. “The people of California have a right to be defended, so the official proponents of Proposition 8 must be allowed to step in and defend that law. Otherwise, state officials will succeed in indirectly invalidating a measure that they had no power to strike down directly.”

ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.
 

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Previous News Releases

Legal Documents

Emergency application: filed with U.S. Supreme Court (2013-06-29)Hollingsworth v. Perry
9th Circuit order dissolving stay: (2013-06-28)Hollingsworth v. Perry
U.S. Supreme Court opinion: Hollingsworth v. Perry
En banc petition: Perry v. Brown
District court trial transcript - Day 1: Perry v. Schwarzenegger
District court trial transcript - Day 2: Perry v. Schwarzenegger
District court trial transcript - Day 3: Perry v. Schwarzenegger
District court trial transcript - Day 4: Perry v. Schwarzenegger
District court trial transcript - Day 5: Perry v. Schwarzenegger
District court trial transcript - Day 6: Perry v. Schwarzenegger
District court trial transcript - Day 7: Perry v. Schwarzenegger
District court trial transcript - Day 8: Perry v. Schwarzenegger
District court trial transcript - Day 9: Perry v. Schwarzenegger
District court trial transcript - Day 10: Perry v. Schwarzenegger
District court trial transcript - Day 11: Perry v. Schwarzenegger
District court trial transcript - Day 12: Perry v. Schwarzenegger
Amicus brief: Institute for Marriage and Public Policy (Perry v. Schwarzenegger)
Trial brief: Perry v. Schwarzenegger
9th Circuit opinion on discovery: Perry v. Schwarzenegger

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