After federal judge Vaughn Walker ruled last August that California's Proposition 8 banning same sex marriage was unconstitutional, a group of ten states, including Utah, have filed suit in the 9th District Court of Appeals. The amicus brief claims that individual states have the final say about the legal status of same sex marriage, not the federal government, and that same sex marriage is not a fundamental right guaranteed by the US Constitution.

The brief states "If public affirmation of anyone and everyone's personal love and commitment is the single purpose of marriage, a limitless number of rights claims could be set up that evacuate the term marriage of any meaning."

Utah's Constitution contains Amendment 3, which defines marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman. If Judge Walker's ruling is upheld, that should mean Utah's law is also unconstitutional.