Supreme Court won’t hear same-sex marriage case, legal now in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin
The Supreme Court unexpectedly turned away appeals from five states battling the expansion of same-sex marriage. The court’s order paves the way for gay marriage to be legal in these states, bringing the total to 30 states.
Chief Justice John Roberts did not say a word about the matter as he began the court’s new term. Gay marriage licenses are expected to be issued today in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin with six other states: Colorado, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming likely moving forward as well.
NPR writes about the impact on the other states: “New lawsuits are already in the pipeline challenging the bans there, too. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, covering the far West and Northwest, and the 6th Circuit, covering parts of the Midwest, have already heard arguments in same-sex-marriage cases, with decisions in the offing. The 5th Circuit is due to hear an appeal soon from a district court ruling that struck down the Texas ban. And the 11th Circuit is in a similar position regarding district court decisions that struck down Florida’s ban.”
“I think this is a terrific result, for now,” said Richard Socarides, a gay-rights advocate and former adviser to President Bill Clinton. “It’s a little bit incremental, but I think it’s a fantastic result and we should celebrate today.”
Conservatives were puzzled and disappointed by the outcome, since it takes only four justices to grant review of a case and the four most conservative justices last year dissented from the court’s decision striking down the federal Defense of Marriage Act as violating the rights of gays and lesbians. A decision finding a federal constitutional right to gay marriage would likely involve a similar rationale to the one Justice Anthony Kennedy cited in his opinion voiding DOMA.
”The Court’s denial of review in all the pending cases strikes me as grossly irresponsible, as a huge abdication of duty on the part of at least six justices,” Ed Whelan of the Ethics and Public Policy Center wrote on National Review online.