Attorneys
representing same-sex couples in California, along with the
human rights organizations Equality California and Our
Family Coalition, have petitioned the California state
supreme court to decide whether banning same-sex
marriage violates the state constitution, the ACLU
announced Monday.
An April 2005
ruling from the San Francisco superior court stated that
preventing same-sex couples from marrying was in fact a
violation of the state constitution, but the
California court of appeal later overturned this in a
2-1 decision last month. This petition asks the court
to reverse this ruling.
A wide variety of
human and civil rights groups have filed amicus briefs
supporting the petition, including the California NAACP, the
California Council of Churches, and the Asian Pacific
American Legal Center.
The California
supreme court has 60 days to rule on the petition and may
extend that period by not more than an additional 30 days.
(The Advocate)
