The California Supreme Court voted unanimously yesterday to consider both the continued conflict between state and federal authorities over medical marijuana, and whether local governments have the authority to ban dispensaries despite the passage of Prop 215 statewide. As you may recall, a SoCal appelate court recently upheld Riverside's right to do just that. more ›

The California Supreme Court has announced that at 10 a.m. Thursday (tomorrow), they'll be issuing a ruling regarding the standing of the assorted plaintiffs in the appeal to uphold Prop 8. The court is a couple weeks early on this one — most legal wonks expected this in December — and as we discussed earlier, they are more than likely to rule unanimously in favor of allowing the case to go forward to the Ninth Circuit. Let us explain again for those just tuning in. more ›

Today was another big day in court for the backers of Prop 8, who remain unhappy that federal judge Vaughn Walker did not agree with their view that homosexual marriage constitutes a horrible, civilization-destroying movement bent on ruining the blessedness of marriage for everyone. The California Supreme Court today heard arguments on the procedural question that has hung over the case for the past ten months since Walker's ruling came down: Can a few average citizens appeal a ruling regarding a ballot initiative, on behalf of the citizenry, even though the state itself does not care to appeal. As predicted by a number of legal experts, the seven justices all appear to say yes, they can. more ›

The California Supreme Court made a controversial 5-2 ruling yesterday allowing police to search arrestees' cell phones without a warrant. This finding is said to be in line with decisions made in the 1970s that items on an arrestee's person during an arrest, such as cigarettes or a wallet, can be seized and later examined without a warrant. more ›

The interwebs exploded today. Why? Because people have mistakenly assumed Prop 8 was overturned by the California Supreme Court. The gay marriage ban was. In May of 2008. Sort of. See, it seems a few people saw this article from a year ago, got excited, teared up, swelled with pride, got confused, and tweeted it. After "semi-celeb" Bonnie Burton, with 3000 followers, RTed it, it blew up. (But don't blame her! She's just an innocent victim of the RT. And she's a super swell lady.) more ›

Next Wednesday, March 4, vigils all over the country will take place the day before the California Supreme Court hears oral arguments on the validity of Prop 8, the same-sex marriage ban that passed in November. The love of couples and families across California, for lack of a better cliche, hang in the balance. And while many of you are too indie-rock to care about something as jejune marriage or faggotry, this ban, if allowed into the state constitution, splits open Pandora's Box to even more constitutional discrimination in the future. more ›

Ha ha. Our mayor is better than yours. Why? Because Gavin Newsom wrote a thoughtful post for the Daily Kos regarding today's state Supreme Court gay marriage percolation. Cool, right? Sure, we're confused, jealous, and sad that he didn't turn to SFist first. But while we go hit the bottle to squelch this ego blow, we urge you to read his words of inspiration and shocking clarity: more ›

Check out the anti-gay truck motoring around town today. Isn't it adorable? Fortunately for it, it lacks any "anti-oak tree" or "pro-Marine recruitment" signage, which would've really pissed off locals Bay Area do-gooders. more ›

And speaking of l'herb. more ›

Because kangaroos are so adorably bouncy and keep their little blessings inside of their pouches, the California Supreme Court just overturned the Senate’s May decision to end the ban "on importing and selling kangaroo parts." Namely, the David Beckham-inspired Adidas soccer cleats might not be for sale in California. (That and other Kangaroo-skin featured items.) Although the Senate recently allowed "kangaroo-derived products made by the sporting goods" industry to sell their stuff willy-nilly, the Supreme Court’s counter will most likely be overturned. more ›

Here's todays wrap up of the news more ›

As entertaining as the Gavin years have been, SFist always kind of wished they were around for the Dog Mauling case, you know the one where a couple of Presa Canario dogs killed Diane Whipple in the hallway of the apartment complex they all lived in. Now that was a trial-- there was the creepy couple who owned the dogs (Marjorie Knoller and her husband Robert Noel), their prison pen pal and Nazi skinhead Paul "Cornfed" Schneider who they also adopted, the lawyer who got on all fours and pretended she was a dog, and rumors of all sorts of nasty pornographic pictures involving Knoller and the dogs. Oh, and how could we forget the fact that one of the lawyers on the case was a then unknown Kimberly Guilfoyle. Now that, my friends, was good times. more ›

Oh, who cares about news when the title of the NEXT HARRY POTTER BOOK HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED. OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! WE'RE SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All right, enough of that. more ›

>-Berkeley loves them some traffic circles. more ›

--Homicides are down about 10% (.pdf, page 4) (76 for the year as opposed to 86 at this time last year). Good! What's the SFPD solve rate on those homicides? [sorry for the .pdf links to the Examiner -- for some reason, none of today's articles are online yet.] more ›

Okay, we've really only got two things to say in this post, but we're so mad at ourselves for not referencing There's Something About Mary in discussing the Great Gavin Gel Gambol, so, um.... Gavin's still using gel! more ›

on hold -- because the invited city officials are becoming more and more uncomfortable with the fact that Ford voted yes on the Marriage Protection Act of 2004 (defining marriage as a heterosexual institution; Ford was one of only 36 Democrats who voted for it). Gavin "he's got game" Newsom, the original party co-chair, is now all like, "uhhh.... err.... I didn't know he'd voted yes on the bill when I agreed to host." Kamala Harris has suddenly discovered that her schedule is kind of booked as well (though it looks like Willie Brown's still game -- that guy does love a party, it's true). And Bubble Lounge manager Jane Kim (probably not the same Jane Kim that ran for school board -- but hey, you never know) is now like, I'm not sure if I'd rent the space to someone against gay marriage. Ford's all like, I don't care (reg. req.). He's never met Gavin Newsom, says plenty of people don't mind his opposition to gay marriage, and he's raising lots of money from everyone (else) anyways. "He's not an (eligible) voter for me. Gavin Newsom has his politics in San Francisco and I have mine in Tennessee." He's rated a "moderate liberal," despite voting yes on school prayer, yes on abortion restrictions, and yes on the war. more ›

We caught this weekend so we'd like to apologize before hand if this posting somehow takes a strange turn towards bestiality, necrophilia, or incest. more ›

Sunny day! The California Supreme Court affirmed without comment the state appellate court's decision that the California domestic partnership laws do not violate the "marriage is between a man and a woman" Proposition 22. (FYI: Janice Rogers Brown didn't vote.) So Bert and Ernie now have all the same legal rights as any straight married couple under state law. This, however, doesn't cover benefits covered by federal law, so Ernie can't collect Bert's social security checks yet, or file a joint tax return with him. Still, though -- Bert is now welcome to sit by Ernie's bed at the hospital, buy a house with Ernie as a joint tenant, and -- awright! -- refuse to testify against Ernie when Ernie gets indicted for a DUI! (in state court only, though -- so Ernie better not get busted doing any illegal downloading or anything.) This ruling is independent of Mark Leno's push to get Prop 22 invalidated entirely, and the court cases trying to do the same thing. And in related news, Canada just made gay marriage legal in all 10 provinces and three territories, making it the third country after the Netherlands and Belgium, to do so. more ›

Well, now that fourteen moderates in the Senate managed to resolve the fili-bunker-buster impasse of the last two years, Bush looks like he's gotten his way, at least with conservative ladies. (Conservative office tyrants, for instance, remain in limbo.) Last week, Justice Priscilla Owen was appointed to the federal appellate court in Texas and today, California's own Justice Janice Rogers Brown will be packing up her bags and heading east to the DC Court of Appeals. DCist's newest addition is San Francisco's latest departure -- so both liberals and conservatives are starting to wonder who the governor's going to appoint to fill Justice Brown's seat on the California Supreme Court. With hot-button topics like, ohhh...., maybe..... GAY MARRIAGE coming up in the next year or so, this one'll be one to watch. more ›

Three estranged lesbian couples presented their cases to the California Supreme Court in San Francisco yesterday, seeking legal clarification [via The Legal Reader] on their rights as parents. Two women are seeking custody and one woman is seeking child support from their former partners. more ›

Hearings began Wednesday in San Francisco Superior Court on the legality of Same-Sex Marriage. On one side is the City of San Francisco, representing twelve plaintiffs who filed suitafter the California Supreme Court ruled against the sanctioning of the marriages. All twelve of the plaintiffs were married last spring- in fact, two of the plaintiffs, Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, were the very first couple to have been married. On the other side is the state of California and various other “traditional family” type groups. The hearings continue today. more ›

We must have missed this in the midst of all the Apprentice hoopla, but last week the San Francisco Board of Supervisors did what they do best- passed a sweeping, half-baked but well-intentioned measure to put on the ballot. The legislation this time? Handgun ban. And we’re not just talking about the sale of handguns, but the owning of handguns. In something right of the fevered dreams of the NRA, the legislation calls for the confiscation of all handguns owned by residents (but not non-residents) within 90 days of the measures' passage. Like this is going to go over quietly. more ›

reported last week that a dozen same-sex couples have filed suit against the state for the right to marry. The plaintiffs cite language from a 1948 California Supreme Court ruling that affirms the "freedom to join in marriage with the person of one's choice," in a case that deals with racial barriers as opposed to sexual orientation. more ›