California Supreme Court voids gay marriages in
San Francisco, saying mayor overstepped authority
DAVID KRAVETS, AP from sfgate.com August 12, 2004
San Francisco -- The California Supreme Court voided all same-sex marriages sanctioned by San Francisco this year and ruled Thursday that the city's mayor overstepped his authority by issuing licenses to gay and lesbian couples.
The court said the city violated the law when it issued the certificates, since both legislation and a voter-approved measure defined marriage as a union between a man and woman.
The justices decided with a 5-2 vote to nullify the nearly 4,000 marriages peformed between Feb. 12 and March 11, when the court halted the weddings.
Their legality, Justice Joyce Kennard wrote, must wait until "the constitutionality of California laws restricting marriages to opposite-sex couples has been authoritatively resolved through judicial proceedings."
The court, however, did not resolve whether the California Constitution would permit a same-sex marriage, ruling instead on the narrow issue of whether local officials could bypass California's judicial and legislative branches.
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