"'I guess it depends on what the meaning of the word "is" is,' observed one of the justices, a sly reference to Starr’s previous job."

"Starr did not take the bait. He merely smirked and carried on with his argument."

The justices were particularly interested in whether Prop 8 invalidates some 18,000 nuptials performed between the court’s initial ruling and the passage of the initiative. And they zeroed in on the precise wording of the proposition, which read: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."