By Michelle Garcia on Advocate.com

The organization behind the measure that repealed marriage equality in California does have the legal right to defend the law in court, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The court’s ruling indicates whether sponsors of all ballot initiatives are fit to represent their propositions in court when the governor and state attorney general refuse to do so.

The case challenging Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that reversed marriage equality in California, has also brought up several peripheral legal issues, such as video access in courtrooms and former judge Vaughn Walker’s ability to objectively hear the case even though he is gay. This ruling was based on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit requesting that the California Supreme Court decide whether the backers of Proposition 8 had the legal standing to step in for Gov. Jerry Brown and state attorney general Kamala Harris, both of whom declined to defend the measure. The case began when Brown was attorney general and Arnold Schwarzenegger was governor.

Tags: California Supreme Court on Prop 8, Prop 8 in court, Prop 8 update