Professor Jane Shachter contributed to the discussion over whether or not the Prop 8 battle would make its way to the US Supreme Court. Lisa Leff of the Salt Lake Tribune reported the following story.

Same-sex couples in California will have to wait a while to find out if they have regained the right to get married, after the backers of the state’s gay marriage ban petitioned a federal appeals court to review a split decision by three of its judges that struck down Proposition 8.

Lawyers for a coalition of religious and legal groups on Tuesday asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear the 2-1 decision that declared the voter-approved ban to be a violation of the federal civil rights of gay and lesbian Californians, opting for now to avoid taking their chances with the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Stanford University law professor Jane Schacter said that while the 9th
Circuit does not often reverse the decisions of member judges, Prop. 8 backers might believe a ruling by a bigger appeals court panel could yield a decision more likely to pique the interest of the Supreme Court. The two judges who rejected Prop. 8 two weeks ago focused their decision exclusively on California’s ban, even though the court has jurisdiction in nine western states.

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“If the en banc decision was broad, it might be more likely to draw attention
of the Supreme Court because it would be a decision with national reverberations,” Schacter said.