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 appeals 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)

Read the announcement from Equality California - click here.

Labels: california, marriage, supreme court

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