Equality California seems to be suggesting that:
Despite statements to the contrary by the Proposition 22 lawyers and in some media stories, neither judge today indicated that the plaintiffs were likely to prevail in this litigation. Press reports also indicated that Judge Warren would have ruled for Prop 22 except for a punctuation error - but in fact, the judge denied the request to stop the issuance of marriage licenses because Prop 22 did not prove that it is suffering harm as a result of the City's actions. Finally, one AP report suggested that Judge Warren said that the marriages of same-sex couples appear to be illegal - but this report is incorrect as the Judge did not address this issue during today's hearing.
The full-text of Equality California's press release
is here (pdf file). Here, however are they're analyses of where the two court cases currently stand:
LAWSUIT #1: PROPOSITION 22 LEGAL DEFENSE FUND vs. CITY & COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO
A hearing before Superior Court Judge James Warren was held in San Francisco at 2 pm on Tuesday, February 17. Petitioners, the Proposition 22 Legal Defense Fund, filed an alternative writ of mandate, and requested that San Francisco be ordered to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Judge Warren granted the writ, but denied the request for a stay. This means that the petitioners can continue to argue their case - but it also means that they were unable to show that they would be irreparably harmed if marriage licenses continue to be issued to same sex couples. Therefore, San Francisco may continue to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for March 29, when the petitioners can once again argue for an injunction. However, the judge has indicated that the issue of whether California's Constitution requires equal protection for same-sex couples will be the key issue in this case.
Several couples were granted the right to intervene in the case, and will be represented by the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Lambda Legal. Equality California will also seek to intervene in the case on behalf of its members, board, and staff.
And:
LAWSUIT #2: CAMPAIGN FOR CALIFORNIA FAMILIES vs. CITY & COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO
Randy Thomasson and Campaign for California Families have also filed suit against San Francisco and Mayor Gavin Newsom. An initial hearing was scheduled this morning in San Francisco before Superior Court Judge Ronald Quidachay. Because CCF did not provide proper notice to the City and County of San Francisco, Judge Quidachay postponed the hearing on their request for a preliminary injunction until Friday, February 20.
OK, I'm not a lawyer, so I'm not sure what all of this means. However, it does seem to be better news that we orignally thought yesterday. At that point, the assumption, based on press reports, was that, but for a misplaced semi-colon, same-sex marriages would halt in San Francisco, that Judge Warren was inclined to go along with the 'Wingers. This report seems to place that conclusion in some danger. How much danger, though, it's hard to tell.
The next issue would seem to be the hearing before Judge Quidachay on Friday. Any lawyers have thoughts about the possibility of these two cases being combined? Would it make sense to have both of them go through the Courts? I'm in MA, so news out here is a little sketchier to come by.