Lyle Denniston gives it the college try:
If the Justices, in the initial vote they will take on this case in private later this week, do not find themselves with a majority on any of the issues they canvassed, then they might well be looking for a way out. One way would be to find that the proponents of Proposition 8 did not have a legal right to be in court to defend it, but even that was a hotly disputed issue on the bench. The other way out was directly suggested by Kennedy, and pursued by him in more than a fleeting way: dismiss this case as one that should not have been accepted. A decision like that, though, could take weeks or months to reach.
(Photo: Plaintiff couple Sandy Steier (L) and Kris Perry hold hands after attending oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court on March 26, 2013. By Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
The Dish 