Jerry Markon reports in The Washington Post: “A federal appeals court in California on Tuesday took the unusual step of asking a state court to decide a key legal question before it considers whether the state’s ban on same-sex marriage violates the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit sought the input of the California Supreme Court on whether proponents of the ban, known as Proposition 8, have the legal standing to defend it in court.”