Dear Marriage Supporter,

Tomorrow afternoon beginning at 2:30 pm PT / 5:30 pm ET, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit will be hearing oral arguments on California's Proposition 8.

The three-judge panel, while continuing to deliberate on the constitutionality of Prop 8, will additionally be hearing oral arguments on whether Judge Walker broke the law when he allowed the public release of videotapes of the original Prop 8 trial and whether Judge Walker's decision to overturn Prop 8 should be reversed because he was involved in a same-sex relationship at the time.

Ruth Institute Founder and President, Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse will be in the courtroom providing live updates via the NOM blog and Twitter (follow us @NOMtweets).

Check the blog tomorrow afternoon and on Friday for updates to get a full report on the proceedings.

The path to this point has been circuitous to say the least...last December the court heard arguments on the case's merits, but because Governor Jerry Brown and Attorney General Kamala Harris have refused to defend the law, in January the 9th Circuit asked the California Supreme Court to decide whether the Protect Marriage coalition had legal standing to defend Prop 8.

Just last month, the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the Prop 8 proponents did have standing in the case. The 9th Circuit will now take the California Supreme Court's unanimous decision on the standing question into consideration in their deliberations.

Please follow along with us on the NOM blog and on Twitter as we continue to uphold and defend the people's right to protect marriage at the ballot box and in our nation's highest courts.

Brian S. Brown
President
National Organization for Marriage