While driving in this morning, the airwaves were abuzz with the news that the California Supreme Court had ruled to annul 4000 same sex marriages that were performed in San Francisco. The court chose not to rule on the constitutionality of the law which defines marriage as a union between man and women, but instead chose to rule on the much narrower issue of whether the mayor had the right to grant marriage licenses in violation of that law. It was found that he did not, and the court then ruled that all marriages so performed were void.

There are of course lawsuits pending that will ask the court to address the broader issue as to whether the equal protection provisions of the California state constitution nullifies bans on same-sex marriages as discriminatory. It will be interesting to see how the California Supreme Court deals with the issues raised here but tabled without comment.

To the 4000 couples whose marriages were declared null and void, keep your chins up, and your formal wear pressed. I suspect that ultimately you’ll be needing them again.