Supreme Court Stays Gay Marriages in Utah

Today the U. S. Supreme Court entered a stay of the order of the federal District Court which struck down Utah's bans on gay marriage pending the outcome of the State of Utah's appeal to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.  As noted in prior posts, the 10th Circuit had refused to stay the lower court ruling.  Now, all attention will be on how the 10th Circuit rules on the appeal. Commentators note that the stay by the U. S. Supreme Court does not necessarily indicate how that Court will rule should the result of the 10th Circuit decision be appealed.  Here are highlights from SCOTUS Blog:

The Supreme Court on Monday morning put on hold a federal judge’s decision striking down Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage, thus stopping a wave of such marriages across the state.  The Court’s order reinstates the state ban and will keep it intact until after a federal appeals court has ruled on it.

The order appeared to have the support of the full Court, since there were no noted dissents.  The ruling can be interpreted as an indication that the Court wants to have further exploration in lower courts of the basic constitutional question of state power to limit marriage to a man and a woman.  Had it refused the state’s request for delay, that would have left at least the impression that the Court was comfortable allowing same-sex marriages to go forward in the thirty-three states where they are still not permitted by state law.


The order, however, cannot be interpreted as a dependable indication of how the Court will rule on the issue when it finally decides to do so directly.

Since the Monday order provided no explanation, it was not clear which of the arguments made by state officials had been convincing to the Justices.

The Court appeared not to have labored over what to do with the request:  it acted within a short time after the final written filing had been submitted by state officials, earlier in the day.

As a result of the new order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, based in Denver, will go forward with an expedited review of Judge Shelby’s decision.  The appeals court has ordered briefing to begin on January 27 and to be completed by February 25.  It has indicated it is not likely to grant any extensions of time to file those documents.  It has not yet set a hearing date.

With the Justices’ order in the case, it now appears almost certain that the question of state power to bar same-sex marriages will not be before the Justices during the current Term.  A case on that issue would have to be granted this month to be reviewed before the Court is expected to finish this Term in late June.

With the postponement in Utah, the total of states where gays and lesbians are now allowed to marry stands at seventeen.  A variety of lawsuits are proceeding across the country, attempting to advance that cause in other states.  There will also be efforts in some state legislatures to clear the way for such marriages.