The 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco that recently ruled in favor of California’s stem cell institute denied two requests March 20 for rehearing the case that charged Proposition 71 was unconstitutional.

A spokesman at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Dale Carlson, said CIRM “fully expects” the challengers to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of California. Plaintiffs must do so by April 6. The court then has 90 days to decide whether to accept the case.

The challengers who filed for rehearing and sued after voters approved $3 billion for human embryonic stem cell research in 2004 are the California Family Bioethics Council, along with the People’s Advocate and National Tax Limitation Foundation. They are represented by the Life Legal Defense Foundation.

The appellate court ruled unanimously Feb. 26 that Proposition 71 “suffers from no constitutional or other legal infirmity.”

Funding for research had been held up by the legal battle, but this month, CIRM has announced more than $100 million in grants by way of state loans and private donors.

— Katie Weeks