Friday, May 30, 2008

More requests to stay same-sex marriage ruling

Another conservative group and 10 state Attorneys General have asked the state Supreme Court to stay its decision striking down state laws that ban same-sex marriage until after voters have had a chance to enact a constitutional ban this November.

The Campaign for California Families filed its petition Thursday, as did the Attorneys General of Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah. The Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund had filed a similar request May 22; the San Francisco City Attorney's office and attorneys for same-sex couples filed oppositions earlier this week.

The state Supreme Court ruled May 15 that restricting marriage to heterosexual couples "raises constitutional concerns not only under the state constitutional right to marry, but also under the state constitutional equal protection clause." A proposed constitutional amendment likely to appear on November's ballot would ban same-sex marriage if approved by voters, rendering moot the court's statutory ruling.

The court's ruling can't take effect for 30 days, and the state Office of Vital Records has told county clerks they can start issuing same-sex marriage licenses June 17 unless the court grants a stay. The conservative groups argue voters should be allowed to weigh in before any same-sex marriage licenses are issued, based on marriage's heterosexual history and the confusion that would ensue Advertisementshould same-sex licenses be issued only to be voided by November's vote. The plaintiffs have countered that further delaying this fundamental right would be inappropriate and inhumane; the state Attorney General's office, which had been duty-bound to defend the statutory ban in this case, also this week argued against extending the stay.



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