COURT HALTS GAY VOWS: From the San Francisco Chronicle

The California Supreme Court ordered an immediate halt Thursday to same-sex weddings in San Francisco and said it would decide within months whether the city had the authority to issue marriage licenses in defiance of state law.

The justices' unanimous orders at least temporarily froze ceremonies that have brought thousands of jubilant couples to City Hall in the last month, emboldened local officials in far-away cities and towns to challenge their states' marriage laws and sparked a political furor that has become an issue in the presidential race. ...

The state's high court hasn't taken up a case directly, bypassing lower court review, in more than four years. Historically it has done so only in rare cases that it considers urgent enough to demand a speedy statewide resolution.

The court sidestepped the issue of whether state law, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, is constitutional. Instead, the court will review only the narrower question -- pressed by state Attorney General Bill Lockyer and organizations opposing same-sex marriage -- of whether San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom can ignore the state law if he considers it unconstitutional.

The stay doesn't affect the more than 4,000 weddings performed under Newsom's decree since Feb. 12. But those marriages would be nullified, if the court rules that Newsom lacked the authority to defy the law on constitutional grounds.

That depends on whether the city is covered by a 1978 state constitutional provision requiring administrative agencies to follow the law as written until an appellate court declares it unconstitutional. The city contends the constitutional restriction applies only to state agencies -- a position that looks shaky after Thursday's order, according to some veteran court observers. ...

...Within hours, Herrera filed a new suit on the city's behalf, seeking a Superior Court ruling that the marriage law violated the rights of same-sex couples.

Similar suits are likely from some of the couples themselves, if the state Supreme Court invalidates their marriages. The issue has also been raised by opponents of same-sex marriage in two Superior Court suits, which were put on hold by the high court Thursday but would be revived if the court ruled that Newsom was acting within his authority.

more
posted by Eve at 11:31 AM VOTE

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home