A cascade of rulings jump the number of marriage equality states from 19 to 30-plus in less than a week
Lisa Keen | Keen News Service
A unanimous three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Tuesday, Oct. 7, struck down state bans against marriage for same-sex couples in Nevada and Idaho. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy issued a stay of the ruling for Idaho at the request of state officials there, while Nevada officials have chosen not to appeal.
Once the Idaho case is settled, the ruling will affect bans in Ninth Circuit states with similar bans: Alaska, Arizona, and Montana. That would bring the total count on marriage equality states to 35.
The result of the Ninth Circuit decision, while widely expected, came just one day after the surprise action of the U.S. Supreme Court to refuse review of appeals involving state bans in five other states across three other federal appeals circuits. That move alone meant the marriage equality state count would go immediately from 19 to 24 and soon to 30 — assuming no state with a ban inside those three circuits attempted a long-shot effort to press its case to keep the ban.
The action means that the stays placed on lower court decisions in Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia, Indiana and Wisconsin — decisions that struck down bans on marriage for same-sex couples — were immediately lifted, making way for lower courts to issue orders requiring the states to stop enforcing their bans and begin issuing marriage licenses.
The action also means that six other states in the same federal circuits as the five states which had appeals before the high court will have to abide by the federal appeals court rulings in those circuits or take the unusual tact of asking their circuits for full bench review of their cases. A three-judge panel in all three circuits — the Fourth,
Seventh, and Tenth — struck down the bans on marriage for same-sex couples.
The first of those states to comply was Colorado whose attorney general, John Suthers, instructed county clerks to begin issuing licenses on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, a South Carolina judge accepted a same-sex couple’s application for a marriage license. In Kansas, a judge in Johnson County ordered clerks there to issue licenses.
North Carolina indicated it would begin to comply with the Virginia ruling and West Virginia’s attorney general, Patrick Morrisey, said he would begin the process to end that state’s appeals. While complying, Morrisey said it was up to others to change forms and pave the way for marriage equality to begin.
As of Thursday, Oct. 9, Wyoming officials were refusing to comply with the Utah ruling in the Tenth Circuit. National Center for Lesbian Rights filed suit on Thursday and were given a court date of Oct. 16 to hear the complaint.
Once those states comply, same-sex couples will be able to marry in 30 states plus the District of Columbia, tipping the balance in favor of marriage equality, from the previous 19 states and D.C.
In the states whose stays were lifted, state officials were complying.
In Wisconsin, Republican Gov. Scott Walker told reporters on his re-election campaign trail that the issue is “resolved” and there would be no further attempts to defend the state ban.
The Indiana attorney general posted a statement indicating the state would begin issuing licenses “soon.”
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, who has opposed that state’s ban, issued a press release saying that same-sex couples could begin obtaining marriage licenses as soon as that order is issued.
“Local clerks are receiving guidance and forms necessary to begin performing marriages [Monday],” said Herring’s office, “and the Attorney General’s Office is working with the Governor’s Office and state agencies to implement any needed changes in light of this action.”
“A new day has dawned, and the rights guaranteed by our Constitution are shining through,” said Herring in a press release Monday morning shortly after the Supreme
Court issued its “Orders List” indicating that the seven appeals — including three from Virginia — were being denied.
“This is a tremendous moment in Virginia history,” said Herring. “We will continue to fight discrimination wherever we find it, but today, we celebrate a moment when we move closer to fulfilling the promise of equality ignited centuries ago in Virginia, and so central to the American experience.”
Decisions have not been issued in the Sixth Circuit and cases are scheduled to be heard in the Fifth, which includes Texas, Eighth, which includes Arkansas, and Eleventh, which includes Florida and Georgia, all considered to be the more conservative appeals courts.
A three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit heard oral arguments Aug. 6 in six marriage equality lawsuits from four states: Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee. The panel has yet to issue its opinion, but questions from two of the three judges during the argument gave repeated voice to various justifications for the bans.
A negative ruling from any of these circuits would trigger a Supreme Court review.
© 2014 Keen News Service. All rights reserved. Dallas Voice Staff Writer David Taffet contributed to this report.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition October 10, 2014.