Supreme Court - the highest federal court in the United States; has final appellate jurisdiction and has jurisdiction over all other courts in the nation. Its rulings are not subject to further review by another court.

9th District Court of Appeals - a federal appellate court with jurisdiction over the district courts in Alaska, Idaho, Arizona, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Hawaii, California (Central, Eastern, Northern, Southern Districts) and Washington (Eastern and Western). A court of appeals decides appeals from these district courts.

Proponent – an advocate, a person who pleads for a cause or propounds an idea.

Stay – a judicial order forbidding some action until an event occurs or the order is lifted.

Due Process - the principle that the government must respect all of the legal rights that are owed to a person according to the law. Due process holds the government subservient to the law of the land, protecting individual persons from the state.

Prop 8 - a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment passed in November of 2008. The measure added a new provision, to the California Constitution, which states that “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”

Equal Protection - the constitutional guarantee that all persons shall receive the same protection of the laws as are afforded all other persons under the same circumstances.

The Equal Protection Clause – a portion of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that prohibits discrimination by state government institutions. The clause grants all people “equal protection of the laws,” which means that the states must apply the law equally and cannot give preference to one person or class of persons over another.

Purported Interest – a supposed, or assumed sense of concern with and curiosity about someone or something.

Rational/Irrational basis – the fundamental assumptions that is/isn’t endowed with reason.

14th Amendment - Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Standing – is the ability for a plaintiff to bring proof that a current law does or will affect them negatively and substantially. The term is used when laws currently in operation are challenged.

Appeal – a formal request that a higher court review the action, procedure, or decision of a lower court, administrative agency, or other body.

Defendant – a person or institution against whom an action is brought in a court of law; the person or organization being sued or accused.

Defendant - Interveners – An individual who is not already a party to an existing lawsuit but who makes himself or herself a party either by joining with the plaintiff or uniting with the defendant in resistance of the plain-tiff’s claims.

Oral – an argument given by attorneys to a judge, a panel of judges, or all the judges that belong to a court. This argument supplements the written argument submitted to the court via a brief, and impacts the outcome of the case. An oral argument is usually not a speech, but rather a back and forth dialogue between a judge or judges and the lawyer who is “arguing.”

Briefs - a written legal document used in various legal adversarial systems that is presented to a court arguing why the party to the case should prevail.