Thanks to Eric Isaacson for his diligent efforts on behalf of equal rights.  He gives us this update on the latest with the court case in Perry v. Brown:

A footnote on the last page of the Ninth Circuit’s opinion holding Prop 8 unconstitutional says: “The stay pending appeal issued by this court on August 16, 2010 remains in effect pending issuance of the mandate.”

That means same-sex couples cannot yet get married in California — and probably will not be able to in the coming weeks.

Under the controlling court rules, Proposition 8′s Proponents have 14 days to petition for rehearing (i.e., until Feb 21). Mandate issues seven days after the deadline for filing a rehearing petition if no such petition is filed (i.e., on Feb. 28).

If the Proponents do file a timely petition for rehearing, mandate will not issue until after the Court acts upon the rehearing petition. It typically issues 7 days after the denial of such a petition. If rehearing is granted, mandate won’t issue until after the Court rehears the case and issues a new opinion.

Even if Proposition 8′s Proponents choose not to petition for rehearing, they can be expected to file a motion for the stay of mandate to continue while they seek Supreme Court review. Were the Ninth Circuit to deny such a stay, they’d ask the Supreme Court to issue one.