August 2, 2013

Marriage equality Marriage Equality Trials Prop 8 Prop 8 trial

Ernest Dronenburg, San Diego’s County Clerk, has withdrawn his petition to the California state supreme court asking for clarification on enforcement of Prop 8. Dronenberg had filed his petition shortly after ProtectMarriage.com, the official proponents of Prop 8, filed their own similar one. The official proponents’ petition is still pending:

San Diego County Clerk Ernest Dronenburg has withdrawn a petition asking the state Supreme Court to rule on whether same-sex marriages have truly become legal in California.

In a news release sent out Friday afternoon, Dronenburg said he canceled the petition because it covered the same ground as another petition filed earlier to the court.

The first petition was filed July 12 by Dennis Hollingsworth and others. Hollingsworth, a former state senator, has worked with ProtectMarriage.com in support of Proposition 8, which amended the state Constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Dronenburg said he was withdrawing his petition, which he filed July 19, to speed up the legal process that he hopes will clarify the current legal standing of Prop. 8.

California’s Attorney General Kamala Harris had argued in legal filings that the San Diego petition and the proponents’ petition were identical. The state asked the California Supreme Court to decline to stay marriages while deciding on the petition, and to deny the petition outright. Marriages are allowed to proceed while the state supreme court is considering the merits of the proponents’ petition.

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