Brown: Allow Marriages to Resume

California attorney general Jerry Brown has filed papers with the 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals saying same-sex marriages in the state should begin again as quickly as possible, the Associated Press reports.

Brown's request comes in papers regarding Proposition 8 that he filed with the court Friday evening. Chief U.S. district judge Vaughn Walker overturned the antigay proposition, which bans same-sex marriages in California, on August 4, but his ruling was immediately appealed to the 9th circuit.

Walker announced Thursday that he was giving the circuit court until August 18 to decide if the ban should remain in place as it weighs the appeal. If the 9th circuit decides against placing a stay on Walker's ruling, same-sex couples will again be able to marry in the state beginning at 5 p.m., August 18.

Brown, the Democratic nominee for governor, was named as a defendant in the federal case against Prop. 8, but he has refused to defend the proposition. In the brief filed Friday night, he said there is no reason for the circuit court to continue the state's ban on marriage equality.

"While there is still the potential for limited administrative burdens should future marriages of same-sex couples be later declared invalid, these potential burdens are outweighed by the district court's conclusion, based on the overwhelming evidence, that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional," he wrote.