Justice Denies Request to Halt Gay Marriages WASHINGTON - Justice Anthony Kennedy of the Supreme Court denied on Sunday a request from Proposition 8 supporters in California to halt the issuance of same-sex marriage licenses in the nation's most populous state. Justice Kennedy turned away the request with no additional comment. Same-sex marriage opponents had asked Justice Kennedy to step in on Saturday, a day after the federal appeals court in San Francisco allowed same-sex marriages to go forward. Numerous weddings were performed at San Francisco City Hall after the court decisions. The appeals ruling came a day after the Supreme Court declined to decide the California case, effectively allowing same-sex marriages in the state. The opponents said the appeals court had acted about three weeks too soon. Proposition 8 supporters could continue their efforts to halt gay marriage by filing their request with another Supreme Court justice. The Supreme Court decided the case on technical grounds, with the majority saying that it was not properly before the court. Because officials in California had declined to appeal a trial court's decision against them, and because the proponents of the ban were not entitled to step into the state's shoes to appeal the decision, the court said, it was powerless to issue a decision.