CNN) -- A federal appeals court in San Francisco, California, decided Tuesday to indefinitely delay consideration of a controversial case regarding the constitutionality of that state's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage.
The decision from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals asks the Supreme Court of California to consider the issue of "standing" -- whether state or county officials have the authority to defend Proposition 8, the 2008 initiative defining marriage as only between one man and one woman.
Top state officials -- including former attorney general and current Gov. Jerry Brown -- have refused to defend the initiative in court, setting up a unresolved fight over the so-called "gateway" legal issue.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/01/04/california.gay.marriage/