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California Supreme Court to rule on gay marriage Thursday morning
By Crystal Carreon - ccarreon@sacbee.com
Last Updated 12:38 am PDT Thursday, May 15, 2008
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A4
The California Supreme Court will issue an opinion today on one of the most volatile civil rights cases to come before the bench in decades: whether gay couples have the right to marry.
A notice posted on the court's Web site Wednesday said the decision will be filed at 10 a.m. and can be viewed at www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions.
In March, the seven justices heard arguments from gay rights groups, San Francisco city officials and conservative organizations over whether the state's ban on same-sex marriage violates Constitutional rights of gay and lesbian couples in California.
A voter-approved initiative in 2000 limited marriage to being between a man and a woman. But today's opinion will be the court's final say in a contentious legal battle that began in 2004 when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom granted marriage licenses to thousands of gay men and lesbians at City Hall.
The high court voided those marriage contracts six months later. A San Francisco Superior Court judge later ruled that the gay marriage ban was unconstitutional, but a 2006 appellate court decision overruled the judge and upheld the prohibition, paving the way for the Supreme Court's review.
Opponents of gay marriage have already prepared an initiative to amend the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriage regardless of how the court rules.
About the writer:
- Call The Bee's Crystal Carreon, (916) 321-1203.
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