Justice Kennedy On Proposition 8: Ban Causes Children Of Same-Sex Parents Immediate Legal Injury

During Tuesday's Supreme Court arguments over the constitutionality of Proposition 8, Justice Anthony Kennedy--who is widely considered the swing vote in the case--suggested that California's gay marriage ban causes "immediate legal injury" to children of same-sex parents.

"There is an immediate legal injury and that's the voice of these children," he said. "There's some 40,000 children in California, according to the Red Brief, that live with same-sex parents, and they want their parents to have full recognition and full status. The voice of those children is important in this case, don't you think?"

Justice Sonia Sotomayor reportedly also asked the lawyer defending Prop 8 to explain what injury the proponents of the ban have suffered, suggesting doubts about the standing of the case.

Click here for more coverage of the Prop 8 hearing.