SAN FRANCISCO -- The threat that one or more state Supreme Court justices could face recall was lodged Wednesday by an attorney representing Prop. 8, the recently enacted ballot measure which bans gay marriage in California.

With all eyes now on the court as it considers whether to hear a number of petitions asking it to invalidate the proposition, Andrew Pugno, an attorney with Prop. 8 told the Los Angeles Times that the court could face the very real possibility of a recall should the justices vote to overturn the measure.

Officially, however, Pugno said the campaign is discouraging supporters from making such threats until the high court renders a decision.

"We think the discussion of a recall at this point is premature and not helpful to the current situation," Pugno told the newspaper in this story.

"The court should have a chance to do the right thing," Pugno said. But should it go against the measure, "no one would be able to stop" a recall, he added.

The threat to the California justices is very real as 2008 marked a year where six supreme court justices in other states were ejected after issuing rulings against special interest organizations, the Times reported.

The California court has also weathered its share of recall attempts, too, although all have failed to date.

The Times reports that in 1997, following their vote to overturn a ballot measure requiring minors to receive parental consent prior to getting an abortion, Chief Justice Ronald George and Associate Justice Ming Chin were both formally targeted for recall. Both justices successfully repelled the effort.

A phalanx of city and county governments along with a host of civil and gay rights organizations have petitioned the high court to invalidate Prop. 8 based on the legal theory that voters can only amend but not wholly revise sections of the state constitution via ballot measures.