The 9th Circuit had earlier put Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling on hold while an appeal of his decision proceeds, but that has been further delayed by legal wrangling in the California Supreme Court. The Supreme Court last month agreed to the 9th Circuit's request to review whether backers of Proposition 8 have a legal right to defend the law when the governor and attorney general refuse to do so -- and the Supreme Court has indicated it may need the rest of the year to decide that issue.