The state Supreme Court denied immediate review today of a challenge to California's ban on same-sex marriage, making it more likely that voters will have their say on the issue before it reaches the high court.
Attorney General Bill Lockyer, who is defending the marriage law, and the city of San Francisco and same-sex couples who are challenging it all asked the court last month to bypass an appellate court and take up the case directly. The court occasionally takes such a step on important issues that need to be resolved promptly.
But the justices denied the requests today without comment or any recorded dissent. The case -- actually a group of four cases raising the same issue -- will now go to the state Court of Appeal in San Francisco.
Chickens! The Court will inevitably get the case eventually. This just draws things out. Details here from the San Francisco Chronicle.