The California Supreme Court has announced that it will rule Tuesday on three cases challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the measure voters passed to ban gay marriage
The opinion will be released at 10 a.m. Tuesday, the High Court announced today.
Proposition 8 passed last Nov. 4 with about 52 percent of the vote. It changes California's constitution with a simple declaration that only a marriage between a man and a woman is legal and valid in the state.
The Supreme Court's decision will cap -- for now -- the long and twisting same-same marriage battle in California.
But this isn't the first time the justices have ruled on the emotionally charged issue.
In May 2008 the same justices overturned a voter-approved law banning gay marriage and issued a decision favorable to same-sex marriage rights. Suddenly, the way was paved for thousands of gay couples to wed across the state.
More than 18,000 couples were married during the months before anti-gay marriage groups mobilized, placed Proposition 8 on the ballot and went on to win.
The court is considering whether Proposition 8 represents a revision to the Constitution that could only be presented to voters by the Legislature or a constitutional convention, not through the initiative process.
Justices also are weighing whether the measure violates the state's separation of powers and, if it does not violate the constitution, what effect it should have on same-sex marriages performed before its adoption.
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