California AG Wants Gay Marriages to Resume Now

So when will wedding bells resume tolling in California for gay couples? It typically takes 25 days for a Supreme Court ruling to take effect, explains the San Jose Mercury News. That would take us to July 21, but state attorney general Kamala Harris said today that it's not necessary to wait that long. She called for the US 9th Circuit in California to forgo the usual waiting period and act on the higher court's ruling immediately, reports the LA Times. The court hasn't said it will do so, however.

The potential hangup: Yet more legal challenges when the case returns to the lower court. Backers of Prop 8, for example, could try to argue that the 2010 ruling declaring the measure unconstitutional doesn't apply statewide, says the Mercury News. (Harris disagrees.) Gov. Jerry Brown, meanwhile, wants things to move quickly as soon as the lower court lifts its stay on that 2010 decision. Today, he ordered the state's counties to be ready to start issuing marriage licenses to gay couples the moment that happens. As of now, the safe bet seems to be sometime next month. (More gay marriage stories.)