California Cities and Same-Sex Couples Join SF's Prop. 8 Challenge

12/11/08 San Francisco Weekly: The San Francisco City Attorney filed an amended petition yesterday that, according to its press release, "brings to fifteen the number of local governments challenging the validity of Proposition 8." The amended petition would also "add seven married couples as petitioners in the action to address a question, posed by the high court, about Proposition 8’s effect on the marriages of lawfully wedded same-sex couples should the validity of the controversial measure be upheld. As private parties, the couples are represented by pro bono outside counsel from the San Francisco-based law firm of Howard Rice Nemerovski Canady Falk & Rabkin." Howard Rice partner Amy Margolin observes that "[t]his [action] is really about securing marriage rights for everyone in California, not just the couples who had the opportunity to marry [before Prop. 8 passed]."