Attempts by conservative opponents to halt same-sex marriage in California before the November election failed Tuesday when both a state appeals court and a Sacramento trial judge refused to block local officials from issuing marriage licenses to gay couples.Sacramento Superior Court Judge Patrick Marlette refused to grant a temporary restraining order sought on technical grounds by five supervisors from Yuba, Stanislaus, Nevada and Sutter counties.
In a petition submitted Monday — hours before the California Supreme Court order legalizing gay marriage was to take effect — they had argued the Department of Public Health failed to follow regulations by creating new gender-neutral marriage licenses without waiting for legislators to amend the state's marriage laws.
Marlette did not rule on the merits of the legal argument, but said the lawsuit should have been filed in San Francisco Superior Court, where the gay marriage battle originated and where the state Supreme Court is located. The high court struck down the state's one man-one woman marriage laws after two dozen couples and the city of San Francisco sued to overturn them.
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