Lawyers with the Alliance Defense Fund said they would take the case to the Court of Appeal today if the city continued to grant the licenses. Chief counsel Benjamin Bull also said he would explore taking the matter directly to the state Supreme Court, rather than waiting for the March 29 Superior Court hearing.
An attorney for the Campaign for California Families filed a writ with the California Court of Appeal's 1st Appellate District on Tuesday afternoon, asking that court to put an immediate stop to the marriages.
"I'm appalled," said Randy Thomasson, the group's executive director. "We are seeing the rule of law in California get jerked around, disrespected and not obeyed. If we don't respect the rule of law, then we are not a democracy. We're a dictatorship."
Both Thomasson's group and the group that appeared before Warren argue that a 1978 amendment to the state Constitution specifically states that only appellate courts -- and not administrative agencies -- can determine the constitutionality of state statutes.
But San Francisco Chief Deputy City Atty. Therese Stewart, who argued the case before Warren on behalf of Newsom and City Clerk Nancy Alfaro, argued that the amendment applied only to state administrative agencies and not to local governments.
Thomasson's group asserts that Newsom is violating eight family code statutes as well as Penal Code 359, which forbids knowingly solemnizing a marriage not sanctioned by state law.
Thomasson accused California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer of "not doing his job" by declining to interfere in the San Francisco case, and suggested he could be the target of legal action.
Tyler argued before Warren that the couples who are marrying could be harmed if the city were allowed to continue, since they could unwittingly give up domestic partner benefits for marriages that ultimately proved to be illegal. He also outlined a list of others -- from insurance companies to employers -- that could be harmed by the unions if gay couples began demanding benefits accorded to heterosexual spouses.
But Warren pointed out that the plaintiffs in this case did not represent any of those people or institutions.
"Where is the harm that the stay is trying to prevent?" the judge asked.
Arguing for the city, Stewart said that "the only injury [Tyler] can claim to his clients is a psychic one." On the other hand, she stressed, "the inferior status granted to gays and lesbians" causes harm "every single day."
At San Francisco City Hall, the rush to process same-sex marriages continued for a sixth day. Couples were brought in 25 at a time. All told, 172 licenses were processed Tuesday, bringing the total to more than 2,600 and netting the city more than $243,000 in fees.
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Times staff writers Arlene Martinez and Henry Weinstein contributed to this report.
