 One year later, the proposition was verified as legal by the California Supreme Court, but not held to be retroactive, so the state of California only recognizes opposite-sex marriages, except for the same-sex marriages granted before the constitutional change in 2008 (including 18,000 marriages granted by California and possibly same-sex marriages granted by other jurisdictions before that date, although a test case has not yet arisen).Prop 8 was eventually overturned by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California but a stay was placed on same sex marriages until an appeal could be heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.Both, Governor Jerry Brown and Attorney General, Kamala Harris had declined to defend the proposition during the appeals process, so the Ninth Circuit allowed the proponents of the amendment to stand for the state government and appeal the decision.