California's Supreme Court to Rule on Prop 8

California's top court is wading back into the fray over gay marriage. The state's Supreme Court says it will rule on the legality of Proposition 8, which outlawed same-sex weddings. Justices asked both sides for more written arguments and will hold a hearing in March and issue a decision about 3 months later, the Los Angeles Times reports. The court rejected a bid to allow same-sex marriages to continue until the issue is decided.

Justices also will weigh in on the legality of same-sex marriages that took place during the 6 months they were allowed—a window created by the same court's decision to overturn a ban in May. Advocates on both sides of the issue hailed the court's decision to take up the matter quickly. "We could have been looking, easily, at two or three years of litigating this issue" in lower courts, said one gay-rights supporter.
(More Proposition 8 stories.)