Voting with George and Kennard to overturn the marriage ban were Justices Carlos R. Moreno and Kathryn Mickle Werdegar. But only Moreno voted last week to put Proposition 8 on hold pending a final ruling.
"I think Moreno will be a solid vote to throw out Proposition 8," Uelmen said. "George and Kennard are critical and could be the sticking point."
Despite her vote against the challengers, Uelmen does not rule out Kennard as a potential supporter for overturning the initiative. Sometimes justices vote against hearing a case because they know the votes are not there to get the result the jurists favor.
UC Irvine Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, who has known Kennard for years, said she would vote to uphold Proposition 8 if she thought the law required it, regardless of her personal preferences.
"She is a justice who will do what she thinks is right as to the law without any regard to what the political consequences are," he said.
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maura.dolan@latimes.com
