A court hearing today in San Francisco may decide the fate of same-sex marriage in California.
The same-sex marriage licenses issued this week by the city of San Francisco will be challenged by conservative groups looking to put an emergency stop to the weddings.
San Francisco has seen more than 2,400 same-sex unions since last Thursday, when Mayor Gavin Newsom announced the city would begin marrying same-sex couples in an act of \civic disobedience."" Critics say the licenses violate California state law defining marriage as between a man and a woman, while Newsom and his supporters believe the state law goes against the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause.
University of California Professor Emeritus of law Stephen Barnett said although nothing is certain, it is likely the hearing will prevent any more same-sex marriages for now.
""My guess would be that the court would grant an injunction against the city that would stop the city from issuing more licenses until the case was finished,"" Barnett said.
He added it is possible the court will follow Massachusetts and Vermont, whose courts declared the state law unconstitutional.
UW-Madison political science Professor Donald Downs said he agreed the San Francisco County court might give the city orders not to issue more licenses.
""I think that you have a state law that says no, so I think they're eventually going to tell them not to do it,"" he said. ""Unless they go for a deeper constitutional principle and say that the state law is unconstitutional because of the right to marry.""
According to Downs, if the court decides granting same-sex marriage licenses was beyond Newsom's legal powers, the marriages already performed would probably be annulled.
Although many opponents of the same-sex marriage licenses have called Newsom's actions anarchic and illegal, Barnett said constitutional dilemmas such as this are good for society.
""It's not unhealthy for each governmental unit to act on its own interpretation of the Constitution until a higher court tells them they can't,"" he said.
Whatever the outcome of Friday's decision, Downs said he believes same-sex marriages or civil unions would soon be legalized with the same legal and social benefits as opposite-sex marriage.
""At the very least, fairly soon, there will be a fairly strong commitment to civil union in a way which makes them not just a technicality but something meaningful that people can respect,"" he said. ""Thirty years, or maybe even 10 years from now, no one's going to care about this debate because there's going to be full rights.\
