In re Marriage Cases
May 15, 2008OUTCOME: Made Same Sex Marriages Legal in California
Opponents of same sex marriage filed writ petitions seeking to prohibit city mayor from issuing marriage licenses to lesbian and gay couples. Attorney General also filed original writ petition to resol ... ve issue before Supreme Court, 33 Cal.4th 1055, 17 Cal.Rptr.3d 225, 95 P.3d 459, which stayed opponents' actions and issued a writ of mandate directing city officials to enforce Family Code provisions defining marriage as between a man and a woman, but expressed no opinion on the constitutional validity of those provisions. City and groups of same sex couples filed actions seeking declaratory judgment that the disputed Family Code provisions were unconstitutional, and those actions were coordinated with opponents' actions into a single proceeding. The Superior Court, City and County of San Francisco, JCCP No. 4365, Richard A. Kramer, J., ruled that the Family Code provisions violated equal protection under the state constitution. State and same sex marriage opponents appealed. The Court of Appeal affirmed in part and reversed in part, upholding the constitutionality of the Family Code provisions. The Supreme Court granted review, superseding the opinion of the Court of Appeal
