SCHWARZENEGGER NOT FORCED TO DEFEND PROP 8

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will not be forced to defend his state’s gay marriage ban, a court ruled on Thursday.

Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown had declined to appeal Judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling last month striking down the Proposition 8 ban.

Conservative anti-gay groups that then appealed Walker’s judgment also asked the 3rd District Court of Appeal to force California state officials to defend the ban.

The Pacific Justice Institute, which filed the request, said that officials have a duty to defend state laws in court.

The group said that it would now take the matter to California’s Supreme Court.