Quick Court Response Expected

The California Supreme Court, which is being asked to stop the marriages of gay couples here, will move quickly to respond to the challenges, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

“It is very likely the Supreme Court will act on an expedited basis,” said Lynn Holton, the state high court’s spokeswoman.

Groups opposed to marriages between gays went to the state’s highest court Wednesday and asked it to order San Francisco to halt the marriages. State Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer is expected to ask the state high court on Friday to determine whether the more than 3,200 gay marriages granted by San Francisco are legal.

Law professors who closely follow the court said it would be highly unusual for the justices to interfere in a case that is still being heard in a trial court. Lawsuits over the marriages are scheduled to be heard March 29 in San Francisco Superior Court.

If the state Supreme Court granted an order to halt the marriages while lower courts determined their legality, “that would be a significant indication of their likely view on the ultimate merits of the case,” said McGeorge School of Law professor J. Clark Kelso.

“The real question is whether a majority of the Supreme Court perceives that what is going on in San Francisco is so threatening to respect for the rule of law that they feel bound to intervene now by simply having a stay of further marriage licenses pending action by the lower courts,” Kelso said.

Santa Clara University law professor Gerald F. Uelmen said that it “would be very unusual” for the Supreme Court to block, even temporarily, gay marriages without agreeing to review the legal issues itself.

The petition filed Wednesday asked the court to refrain from immediately deciding the constitutionality of marriage laws and rule only on whether the city has violated state marriage laws.

San Francisco officials contend that the state’s marriage laws, which define marriage as the union of a man and a woman, violate the state Constitution’s equal protection guarantees.

In Sacramento, meanwhile, several Democratic lawmakers held a news conference to back a resolution opposing a U.S. constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

The news conference by eight lawmakers kicks off what promises to be a lengthy, heated debate in the Legislature that reflects the national division over whether same-sex couples should be granted marriage licenses.

Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), a member of the gay and lesbian caucus, earlier this month introduced a bill that would allow gay marriage in California by replacing the words “between a man and a woman” with “between two persons” in the family code section that defines marriage.

That bill is expected to get its first hearing in an Assembly committee within a month. It faces resistance from Republicans who argue that marriage is an institution reserved for a man and a woman. They point out that four years ago, voters passed by 61% to 39% a proposition stating that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid in California.

Lawmakers on the other side called gay marriage an issue of civil rights.

“If a law is unjust, it’s the duty of Americans to speak up against it,” said Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica). “It will certainly be settled in the court, as will this.”

Kuehl and her colleagues also demanded an apology Wednesday from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for comparing the issuance of gay marriage licenses in San Francisco to drug dealing.

In an interview Sunday with NBC’s “Meet the Press” host Tim Russert, Schwarzenegger said California cannot allow mayors to “go and hand out licenses for various things.”

“Maybe the next thing is another city that hands out licenses for assault weapons,” Schwarzenegger said. “And someone else hands out licenses for selling drugs.”

Democratic lawmakers called those comments insulting and inflammatory.

Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Terri Carbaugh said that in his interview with Russert, the governor was referring to public officials who are obligated to uphold state law.

Asked whether the governor would apologize, Carbaugh said, “The governor has said what he’s going to say on this.”

The lawmakers also took exception to Schwarzenegger’s description of the situation in San Francisco as “riots” and “people clashing.” There have been two arrests for trespassing at City Hall, both of them last Thursday, said San Francisco City and County Sheriff’s Department chief of staff Eileen Hirst.

Times staff writer Lee Romney contributed to this report.