California Supreme Court

UPDATED at 3:28 p.m. with comment from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom

ADDITIONAL UPDATES at 4:41 p.m. with comments from the Courage Campaign's Rich Jacobs and Andy Pugno from the Yes on 8/ProtectMarriage.com committee.

SAN FRANCISCO - Justices of the California Supreme Court on Wednesday announced they would agree to hear arguments as to why they should strike down Prop. 8, the recently enacted ballot measure that bans gay marriage in the state.

In their order, the high court said that parties involved must prepare arguments and brief answering these three questions:

--Is Prop. 8 invalid because it constitutes a revision of, rather than an amendment to the California Constitution?

--Does Prop. 8 violate the separation of powers doctrine under the California Constitution?

--If Prop. 8 is not unconstitutional, what is the effect, if any, on the marriages of same-sex couples performed before the adoption of Prop. 8?

In a move that wasn't entirely unexpected, presumptive GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain endorsed Thursday the controversial California Marriage Protection Act initiative expected to go before the state's voters this November.

In an e-mail received by the ProtectMarriage.com campaign McCain issued the following statement:

"I support the efforts of the people of California to recognize marriage as a unique institution between a man and a woman, just as we did in my home state of Arizona," McCain said in a message widely distributed via PRNewswire. "I do not believe judges should be making these decisions."

Not unlike four years ago when he stunned the political world by sanctioning gay marriage in his city, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom will be ready at 5:01 p.m. today when the recent state Supreme Court's decision legalizing gay marriage goes into effect.

Newsom spokeswoman Giselle Barry said the mayor will personally officiate a not-so-private wedding ceremony at City Hall bringing together lesbians Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon.

Newsom won't be the only left-leaning progressive official in California to jump on the opportunity to officiate same-sex nuptials this week. Starting Tuesday morning, mayors and county and city clerks across the state are expecting a surge of requests for both same-sex marriage licenses as well as requests for City Hall wedding ceremonies.