DAVIS -- Even if the California Supreme Court upholds California's ban on gay marriage, same-sex couples who tied the knot before November 2008 will remain legally married, family law scholars argue in a friend-of-the-court brief submitted Thursday (Jan. 15). The brief was signed by 28 family law professors from 15 California law schools.

The scholars make clear in their brief that they believe Proposition 8 should be overturned. But they focus their arguments on just one question facing the court: If Proposition 8 is allowed to stand, what will happen to sex-same couples who exchanged vows before the measure was passed?

"Our amicus brief argues that the only possible answer to this question is that Proposition 8 has no effect on these marriages," said Courtney Joslin, professor of law at UC Davis.

Joslin and Michael Wald of Stanford Law School submitted the brief on behalf of family law specialists from 13 other law schools statewide: UC Berkeley, UC Hastings, UCLA, University of Southern California, Loyola Law School Los Angeles, California Western School of Law, Santa Clara University, Loyola Marymount University, University of San Francisco, Whittier Law School, McGeorge School of Law, Pepperdine University and Golden Gate University.

Many of the professors have played major roles in drafting California family law legislation and have weighed in as friends of the court in other significant family law, adoption and parentage cases decided by the state Supreme Court.

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Thursday was the deadline to file amicus briefs in the litigation seeking to overturn Proposition 8, which passed in November with 52 percent of the vote.