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10 States Beg California Supreme Court to Hold Off on Same-Sex Marriage Ruling

By Peter J. Smith

SACRAMENTO, California, June 2, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Ten US states have requested California's state Supreme Court to hold off its ruling legalizing same-sex "marriage" until California citizens have voted on a proposed marriage amendment this November in order to prevent havoc for their legal systems.

Attorneys general from Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah joined petitions by Liberty Counsel and the Alliance Defense Fund in asking the high court to grant a stay on its ruling until voters approve or reject a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as only between a man and a woman.

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, author of the brief, said that the states involved were concerned that homosexuals would flock to California for same-sex "marriages," return to their home states to demand recognition, only to have the legal definition of marriage changed again by a constitutional amendment. 

"We reasonably believe an inevitable result of such 'marriage tourism' will be a steep increase in litigation of the recognition issue in our courts," Shurtleff wrote. (http://www.alliancealert.org/2008/2008053001.pdf)

Shurtleff added that a stay until the November 3 vote on the marriage amendment to the state constitution would prevent "premature, unnecessary, unnecessarily difficult, and therefore unduly burdensome litigation in our courts."

California Attorney General Jerry Brown, however, is urging the court not to grant the stay.

Unlike Massachusetts, the first state to introduce same-sex "marriages" in the US, California allows residents of other states to marry with no questions asked about the legality of their marriages in other states.

The state high court has until June 16 to decide whether to grant a stay and put its ruling on hold until November, although it could also give itself a 60 day extension past that date to consider the matter.

Read the brief submitted by the attorneys general: http://www.alliancealert.org/2008/2008053001.pdf

See related coverage by LifeSiteNews.com:

No More "Brides" and "Grooms" When California Opens Wide Gates to Same-Sex Marriage June 17
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08052908.html

California Supreme Court Imposes Homosexual 'Marriage' on State
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08051502.html

California Supreme Court Asked to Stay "Gay Marriage" Order until November Public Ballot
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08051602.html

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