He is well known as the Independent Counsel in the Whitewater investigation and Monica Lewinsky scandal involving President Bill Clinton in the 1990s.

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Almost exactly one year after the California Supreme Court heard arguments regarding the right for gay couples to marry, many of the same lawyers will be back on Thursday to argue if the state’s recent same-sex marriage ban should stand or be revoked.

This Thursday, the Supreme Court will hold three hours of oral arguments from 9:00 AM to noon on three lawsuits aimed at overturning Proposition 8, the voter approved ban on gay marriage approved in November of 2008.

Lawyers representing-same sex couples – 18,000 have been married since last year – and a group of local governments will get 90 minutes to present their arguments.  Those lawyers include Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Chief Deputy City Attorney Therese Stewart and Michael Maroko, a partner of Los Angeles lawyer Gloria Allred.

Sponsors of Proposition 8 have an hour. They are being represented by Pepperdine law school dean Kenneth Starr.  California Attorney General Jerry Brown has declined to argue the state’s position.  Deputy Attorney General Christopher Krueger will be arguing for the state.

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