JUDGE ON CA. SSM-BAN CASE: From the San Francisco Chronicle

A San Francisco judge Tuesday scheduled a hearing for Dec. 22 to try to determine whether California's ban on same-sex marriage is constitutional.

Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer fended off suggestions by the city of San Francisco and other advocates to consider expert studies and personal accounts of the effects of the state law, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Instead, Kramer said he would try to resolve the case without a trial or fact-finding session by limiting the hearing to the legal issues: whether the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage amounts to discrimination on the basis of sex or sexual orientation, or violates the right of privacy.

He added, though, that if he can't resolve the case without deciding factual issues -- for example, the city's claim that the current law is based on pervasive discrimination against gays and lesbians, and the claim by opponents of same-sex marriage that studies show such marriages harm children and destabilize society -- a further hearing might be necessary.

Kramer was skeptical, however, about the need for such evidence. "My job is not to sit here and figure out ... who's right about their values,'' he said.

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