The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today issued an order denying Prop 8 plaintiffs request to lift a stayon an injunction issued by the U.S. District Court barring same-sex couples from marrying in California.

Coincidentally, in his legal column this morning, our expert Ari Ezra Waldman discussed what the Ninth Circuit's decision might be regarding lifting the stay. Unfortunately, he was right that they would deny it. Check out his column here, in which he discusses possible reasons for the decision. Ari will be updating the column shortly with some new analysis.

Here's the order, as released:

"Filed order (STEPHEN R. REINHARDT, MICHAEL DALY HAWKINS and N. RANDY SMITH) Having considered all of the factors set forth in Nken v. Holder, 129 S. Ct. 1749, 1756 (2009), and all of the facts and circumstances surrounding Plaintiffs' motion to vacate the stay pending appeal, as well as the standard for vacatur set forth in Southeast Alaska Conservation Council v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 472 F.3d 1097, 1101 (9th Cir. 2006), we deny Plaintiffs' motion at this time. [7691622] (KKW)"

Chad Griffin, Board President of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, released the following statement regarding the Ninth Circuit decision:

“Several weeks ago, we filed a motion with the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit asking the Court to lift its stay and allow California's gay and lesbian couples to marry. We felt then, as we do now, that it is decidedly unjust and unreasonable to expect California's gay and lesbian couples to put their lives on hold and suffer daily discrimination as second-class citizens while their US District Court victory comes to its final conclusion.

"It is un-American to deprive gay and lesbian couples of their fundamental constitutional right to marry. These are adults in committed, loving relationships who just want to live their lives without government interference. Last August, the US District Court declared Proposition 8 unconstitutional. We believe that the courts will permanently secure the freedom to marry for all Californians.

"AFER is committed to ensuring that all Americans have the freedom to marry."