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Because in California Supreme Court Justices are not appointed as they are under the federal constitution, but elected, they are subject to recall by the electorate, and rightly so. The constitutional framers made the manner of recall very simple. The recall process has two parts. Both of these parts are stated plainly in Article 2 Section 14a. The first is: "Recall of a state officer is initiated by delivering to the Secretary of State a petition alleging reason for recall. Sufficiency of reason is not reviewable." The petition to remove these elected officials is not "reviewable." That means that the...

Margot McShane and Alex D'Mario of Napa were the fourth lesbian couple to get 'married' in San Francisco, but their childrens birth certificates have spots only for 'mother' and 'father.' The pair had planned to go to court, marriage licence in hand, and demand that McShane has the same parental benefits as D'Amario.California's justices ruled narrowly on the limits of the mayor's authority to interpret state law, and did not resolve whether the state constitution would permit same sex marriage, as Massachusetts highest court found. The couple still may have a case, said John Mayoue, who wrote 'Balancing Competing Interests...

WASHINGTON - California's Supreme Court has given supporters of traditional marriage a huge victory. The court struck down San Francisco's same-sex marriage licenses. It was an unanimous ruling. California's highest court agreed San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom overstepped his authority when he directed state employees to issue same-sex marriage licenses earlier this year. In its 5-2 vote, the court struck down the 4,000 marriage licenses from the month-long marital frenzy that started back in February."I think what we did was right and appropriate and history will judge that," Mr. Newsom said.Though the decision is the biggest recent setback for gay...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Wearing the same wedding gown and veil she wore when she married her partner six months ago at City Hall, Molly McKay stood on the steps of the state Supreme Court and wiped tears from her eyes. About a dozen gay and lesbian couples huddling around the McKay, a gay rights advocate, also began to hug and cry, especially when she read that the court Thursday had nullified the 3,995 same-sex marriages sanctioned by San Francisco during its brazen effort to change the national debate on gay marriage. "I'm really upset because I feel like I...

Almost 4,000 gay couples, including Rosie O'Donnell and her lesbian partner, learned yesterday that their marriages are null and void. The California Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the controversial mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, overstepped his authority by issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The justices also ruled, 5-2, to nullify the same-sex weddings performed between Feb. 12 and March 11. Those weddings ignited a fierce nationwide debate and prompted President Bush to push for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages. "The struggle for civil rights continues in America, as usual," O'Donnell told the Daily News through a...

By a vote of 5-2, the California Supreme Court today voided several thousand same-sex marriages, ruling that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom overstepped his authority by issuing licenses to homosexual couples earlier this year. Six months ago, Newsom began issuing the licenses in violation of the law. The city continued the practice from Feb. 12 until March 11 when the high court issued an injunction – but not until over 4,000 same-sex couples had been wed. In today's ruling, the court stated: "We hold only that in the absence of a judicial determination that such statutory provisions are unconstitutional, local...

SAN FRANCISCO - The California Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday that San Francisco's mayor overstepped his authority by issuing same-sex marriage licenses this spring. The court also voided all the marriages of gay and lesbian couples sanctioned by the city. The court said the city violated the law when it issued the certificates and performed the marriage ceremonies in a monthlong wedding march that began Feb. 12, because state legislation defines marriage as a union between a man and woman.

More than 4,000 gay marriages in San Francisco have been annulled by California's Supreme Court. The court ruled the city had acted improperly in granting the marriage licences earlier this year in defiance of state law. The mayor of the San Francisco ignited a passionate nationwide debate in February by allowing 4,037 same-sex couples to wed over a four-week period. The California Supreme Court stopped the marriages while it reviewed the city's actions. It has now ruled the city violated the law, since both legislation and a voter-approved measure defined marriage as a union between a man and woman....

Just breaking on Fox News

Article III, section 3.5 provides in full: “An administrative agency, including an administrative agency created by the Constitution or an initiative statute, has no power: [¶] (a) To declare a statute unenforceable, or refuse to enforce a statute, on the basis of its being unconstitutional unless an appellate court has made a determination that such statute is unconstitutional. http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/081204_calif_gaynuptialruling.pdf

Just heard on the radio news.

California high court voids thousands of gay marriages SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The California Supreme Court has voided all gay marriages sanctioned in San Francisco last spring. The court ruled that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom exceeded his authority when he allowed such unions to take place. The ruling said the same-sex ceremonies ignored both state legislation and a voter-approved measure that defined marriage as a union between a man and woman. Thousands of gay couples received licenses at San Francisco City Hall before a court injunction halted the unprecedented wedding spree.

SAN FRANCISCO - The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that San Francisco's mayor overstepped his authority by issuing same-sex marriage licenses this spring. The court also voided all the marriages of gay and lesbian couples sanctioned by the city. The court said the city violated the law when it issued the certificates and performed the marriage ceremonies in a monthlong wedding march that began Feb. 12, since both legislation and a voter-approved measure defined marriage as a union between a man and woman. The court, however, did not resolve whether the California Constitution would permit a same-sex marriage, ruling instead...

SAN FRANCISCO - The California Supreme Court on Thursday voided the nearly 4,000 same-sex marriages sanctioned in San Francisco this year and ruled unanimously that the mayor overstepped his authority by issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. The court said the city violated the law when it issued the certificates, since both legislation and a voter-approved measure defined marriage as a union between a man and woman. The justices separately decided with a 5-2 vote to nullify the marriages peformed between Feb. 12 and March 11, when the court halted the weddings. Their legality, Justice Joyce Kennard wrote,...