Subject: Same-sex marriage update: letter to Ninth Circuit
To media and interested parties:
I just wanted to pass along and briefly explain a letter (attached) that the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office sent yesterday to the clerk of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals pertaining to same-sex marriage.
The letter simply requests that the Ninth Circuit provide parties in the case with 24-hour advance notice for when it would issue its mandate, in the event the U.S. Supreme Court denies review in the federal challenge to Prop 8 (which we would probably find out on Monday morning).
As you may know, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to consider Friday whether to grant review in the Prop 8 case, to which San Francisco is a government co-plaintiff alongside the American Foundation for Equal Rights. If the high court declines to take up the case — or “denies cert,” as lawyers say — it would mean that the prior Ninth Circuit ruling striking down Prop 8 as unconstitutional would stand. And that would mean same-sex marriages could resume in California, once the Ninth Circuit issues its mandate to do so.
This is a normal procedural step, which typically takes several days to accomplish.
Because of the widespread interest in this case — both from couples wishing to marry and, potentially, other interested members of the public — the City has requested that the Court provide 24-hours notice of when it anticipates that it will issue this mandate. That would afford San Francisco and California’s other county officials sufficient advance notice to prepare for requests for marriage licenses and meet other staffing needs.
I’ll be sending along regular updates in the coming days as soon as we learn new information, and to plan for possible outcomes on Friday and Monday.
The attached letter is pretty self-explanatory. But if you have questions, feel free to let me know.
Best,
MATT DORSEY
Press Secretary
————————————————————-
OFFICE OF CITY ATTORNEY DENNIS HERRERA
San Francisco City Hall, Room 234
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, California 94102-4682
(415) 554-4662 Direct
(415) 554-4700 Reception
(415) 554-4715 Facsimile
(415) 554-6770 TTY
Related Documents:
PDF of the City Attorney letter to the Ninth Circuit re issuance of mandate in Perry (Nov. 27, 2012)