The California Supreme Court is set to make a landmark ruling on same-sex marriage rights, within 90 days after a hearing scheduled March 4 in San Francisco. The court will convene for 3 hours to hear arguments from both sides of the issue. At stake is an October 2006 state court ruling affirming California's law barring same-sex marriages. The issue came to a head after San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's controversial 2004 decision to ignore the marriage law and grant marriage licenses to thousands of same-sex couples.

With the timing of the hearing, such as it is during a contentious Presidential primary battle, its location in San Francisco, and the fact that it has been allotted three hours (apparently two hours longer than normal), all signs indicate it will be an interesting news item, to say the very least. Stay tuned for headlines March 4.