California Attorney General Bill Lockyer today formally asked the state Supreme Court to put a ruling on the constitutionality of gay marriage on the legal fast track, saying people "should not have to put their lives and affairs on hold indefinitely."
Rather than let the case make its way through several levels of court proceedings that could last well into 2007, Lockyer wants the high court to take the matter up itself. The case is currently before the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco, where it will stay if the Supreme Court shoots down Lockyer's request.
Lockyer appealed the trial court decision last month by San Francisco Superior Court Judge Richard A. Kramer, who ruled that California laws that limit marriage to one man and one woman violate the state constitution's equal protection guarantees.
The Supreme Court has the power to transfer a case to itself in matters it deems of great public importance to be resolved quickly.
"Review by the Court of Appeal will necessarily and substantially extend the uncertainty regarding whether California's marriage laws are constitutional," Lockyer argued in his petition to the California Supreme Court.
Details here from the San Jose Mercury News. Lockyer's Petition to the Court is here.