The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals today put appeals of two Florida marriage equality rulings on hold pending the outcome of upcoming hearings gavelbefore the U.S. Supreme Court on similar marriage equality cases appealed from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals:
“Pursuant to the court’s direction, the appeals …  are held in abeyance pending the United States Supreme Court’s issuance of an opinion in DeBoer v. Snyder … . Any other current or future appeals that are filed in this court raising the same or similar issues as the appeals listed above will also be held in abeyance pending the Supreme Court’s issuance of an opinion in DeBoer v. Snyder. Within twenty-one (21) days of the date the Supreme Court issues its opinion in DeBoer v. Snyder, the parties are directed to notify this court in writing what issues, if any, remain pending in these appeals.”
Same-sex marriages began in Florida on Jan. 5 when Miami Dade Circuit Judge Sarah Zabel lifted the stay she had imposed on her earlier ruling in state court striking down Florida’s constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Zabel lifted the stay on her ruling the day before the stay on a federal district court case ruling that also declared the ban unconstitutional was to have expired. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi had asked  U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to extend the stay on U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle’s ruling, but Thomas refused.
In October, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear appeals on marriage cases from other federal circuit courts, all of whom had ruled in favor of marriage equality. In January, the Supreme Court agreed to hear appeals on four marriage equality cases out of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, the only federal appellate court to rule against marriage equality since the Supreme Court’s June 2013 decision in U.S. v Windsor striking down portions of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hold hearings on the 6th Circuit causes in April and to deliver a decision in June.