Update on Prop 8 and DOMA Cases

As noted last week, the U. S. Supreme Court did not tip its hand as to which, if any of the gay marriage cases it might consider during the current term of the Court.   The American Foundation for Equal Rights ("AFER") has issued a status report.  Here are highlights:

Tomorrow, the United States Supreme Court could announce whether it has granted or denied review in Hollingsworth v. Perry (formerly Perry v. Brown), the federal constitutional challenge to California's Proposition 8. The Perry case, along with several cases challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), were distributed for discussion at the Justices' private Conference of Friday, November 30, 2012.

Should the Court grant review, the Justices will go on to consider whether Proposition 8 violates the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. If the Court denies review, the February 2012 decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that struck down Proposition 8 is made permanent, ending four years of marriage inequality in California.

On Friday, November 30, the United States Supreme Court issued an Order List revealing two cases considered at its November 30 Conference that have been granted review. The Perry case and the DOMA cases were not on that list. The Supreme Court is expected to release an Order List with its decisions on cases it has granted or denied review from its November 30 Conference by Monday, December 3 at 9:30 a.m. EST/6:30 a.m. PST. In the event that the Court neither grants nor denies review in Perry by December 3, the Justices will discuss the case again at a future Conference.

It goes without saying that there will be updates depending on what the Court decides to do with these cases.