On Tuesday the California Supreme Court denied a request filed by San Diego County Clerk Ernest J. Dronenburg to halt gay marriages in California until the Court can review whether Proposition 8 is still law in all but two counties, the AP reports. The court will not consider that issue til August. In the meantime
same-sex marriages are able to continue state-wide without interruption.
Petitioners, primarily Dronenburg and state Attorney General Kamala
Harris, have until August 8 to file additional written arguments. The news that the request was denied did not surprise many primarily because the Court recently rejected a similar request by the backers of Propisition 8 who used the same arguments put forth by Dronenburg in attempt to prevent gay couples from tieing the knot.
In addition to arguing for a more limited interpretation of Judge Vaugh Walker's 2010 ruling against Proposition 8, Dronenburg has also claimed that "county clerks aren't bound by
orders from the governor, the state attorney general and the state
officials who oversee marriage records." A large number of California counties, however, disagree with his interpretation of the law: "Clerks in 24 counties have submitted briefs arguing that it
makes sense for their actions with regard to issuing marriage licenses
to be guided by state officials so marriage laws are the same statewide."
And though Dronenburg has claimed to be only seeking clarification from the court, he has chosen as his representative, "Rancho Santa Fe lawyer Charles LiMandri,
who donated $10,000 and loaned another $27,000 to the campaigns to
qualify and pass Proposition 8, according to state campaign finance
records," calling into question his true motives for filing in the first place.
