New Delay In SF Marriage Ruling

New Delay In SF Marriage Ruling
by Mary Ellen Peterson 365Gay.com San Francisco Bureau

Posted: December 24, 2004 2:03 pm ET

(San Francisco, California) A ruling in a legal challenge to California's ban on gay marriage may be put off until April, four months after San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer indicated his decision may be rendered.

Legal arguments in the case wrapped up Thursday, (story) but Kramer now has asked to see additional written arguments by January 14th. In addition he will hold a case-management conference next week.

The new evidence Kramer is seeking concerns sociological reports from both sides over the effect of marriage on families.

After receiving the written arguments he could then schedule more oral arguments. After that he would have 90 days to issue a ruling.

Thursday, in the second day of the lawsuit brought by same-sex couples and the City of San Francisco seeking to have the state's ban on same-sex marriage overturned, a conservative Christian group argued that the law does not discriminate against gays and lesbians.

Alliance Defense Fund lawyer Glen Lavy said it was in the state's interest to promote families that include both a mother and a father as the ideal environment for raising children.

"If your honor finds the marriage laws must be available for same-sex couples, you will be likely creating a constitutional right to incestuous and group marriage." Lavy told Judge Richard Kramer.

Rena Lindevaldsen the lawyer for the Campaign for California Families, another conservative group told the court that same-sex couples "can't perform the basic functions of marriage, therefore it's not discrimination."

Lindevaldsen urged Kramer to uphold the law.
Sherri Sokeland Kaiser, an attorney for the city of San Francisco, reminded Kramer that the state already sanctions marriages of heterosexuals who will likely never bear children, such as women over 50 and convicted criminals sentenced to life in prison.

"It is our sex and our sex alone that is keeping us from marrying the person of our choice," Kaiser told Kramer.

Whichever way Judge Kramer rules the decision will be appealed. It could take a year before it reaches the California Supreme Court.

©365Gay.com 2004