California Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage at 10am tomorrow

I hope they rule in favor of it. The legislature has passed it twice, only to have it be vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger.

Marc Ambinder:

The State Supreme Court decision comes down at 10 am PT (1pm ET), and the pro-gay marriage side is very hopeful that they'll be victorious. The court's ruling will determine whether the state's voter initiated ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional. If it is, California could be the second state in the union to legalize gay marriage. John McCain, as you'll recall, opposes the Federal Marriage Amendment on federalism grounds but has hinted that he might change his mind if state courts start overturning people-initiated decisions on gay rights. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has twice vetoed same-sex marriage legislation because he wanted to defer to the court's ruling; he has since told a gay rights group that he opposes a ballot measure that would ban gay marriage. Six of the seven justices were appointed by Republicans.

Some gay rights activists are worried about a ruling in favor of gay marriage because they fear the potential political backlash -- locally and nationally -- that would result. And California has a very strong civil unions law, which gives gay people virtually every state-granted right that married couples have access to. What the court is really dealing with here is whether whether the deprivation of the word "marriage" is in and of itself a constitutional harm.