CALIFORNIA'S ATTY. GENERAL SEEKS STATE SUPREME COURT RULING: From the Associated Press

Facing increased pressure to intervene in San Francisco's same-sex marriage debate, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer said he'll go directly to the state Supreme Court to try to resolve the deeply divisive issue.

"The people of California who have enacted laws that recognize marriage only between a man and a woman, and the same-sex couples who were provided marriage licenses in San Francisco deserve a speedy resolution to the question of the legality of these licenses," Lockyer said late Monday.

Lockyer said he would ask the state's highest court on Friday whether San Francisco's issuing of same-sex marriage licenses violates state law, which designates marriage as only between heterosexual couples. The announcement from Lockyer, a leading Democrat and potential rival to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 2006 election, also was an attempt to stave off criticism from Republicans, who have been upset at the reluctance of the state's top lawyer to enter the debate. Schwarzenegger ordered Lockyer on Friday to "take immediate steps" to get a court ruling to make the city stop the gay weddings. More than 3,200 same-sex couples have been married since San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom decided to give out the licenses Feb. 12.

San Francisco officials had already filed their own lawsuit with the state Supreme Court, arguing that California's prohibitions on same-sex marriages are unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court is not required to take either case, and could decide to wait until the issues get worked out in the lower courts before they are ripe for a hearing.

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posted by Eve at 1:59 PM VOTE

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