Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi - I'm sorry, but I always want to call her "bimbo" - to date has shamelessly prostituted herself to Christofascists elements in the GOP and done all she can to block marriage equality in the Sunshine State. Now, in a stunning reversal, she has asked the Florida Supreme Court to settle the issue given the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last week to punt on the issue and deny all five of the marriage equality appeals before it. Perhaps Bondi wants to get a final decision and be done with the issue or perhaps she hopes the Florida Supreme Court will not follow the lead of federal courts that, except for one, have struck down state marriage bans across the country. The Miami Herald looks at Bondi's stunning about turn. Here are highlights:
In a startling move Monday night, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said she wants the Florida Supreme Court to decide once-and-for-all whether same-sex couples can marry in the Sunshine State.
“That is unquestionably an important issue, and the Plaintiffs, the State, and all citizens deserve a definitive answer,” Bondi’s office wrote in a 6 p.m. filing to the state’s Third District Court of Appeal. “Until recently, the issue was squarely before the United States Supreme Court, and it appeared that a definitive answer was coming. ... Unfortunately, the United States Supreme Court decided not to answer the question.”
Last Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court settled the gay marriage issue in Utah, Oklahoma and Virginia, along with Wisconsin and Indiana, when it announced justices would not hear appeals in federal court decisions allowing same-sex marriages in those states.
On July 17, Monroe County Chief Circuit Judge Luis Garcia declared Florida’s 2008 gay-marriage ban unconstitutional, ruling against Bondi, whose office defended the ban. He ordered that a Key West couple, Aaron Huntsman and William Lee Jones, had the right to marry, but an automatic stay in the case prevented the nuptials. On July 25, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Sarah Zabel also declared Florida’s ban unconstitutional, finding in favor of six same-sex couples who want to marry. Her ruling also was stayed pending appeal.
Bondi, who is up for reelection in November, also said subsequent similar losses in Broward and Palm Beach counties, as well as federal court in Tallahassee, should be decided in Washington.
Since it is unlikely the U.S. Supreme Court will decide same-sex marriage anytime soon, Bondi has relented.
“Florida’s courts will therefore need to resolve the issue without further United States Supreme Court guidance,” she wrote in Monday’s filing. “Because there are cases pending in multiple districts, and because this is an issue of great public importance that now warrants immediate Florida Supreme Court review, the State respectfully suggests pass-through certification.
I do not trust Bondi whatsoever. However, it is indeed possible that she simply wants the issue to go away and with no 11th Circuit case in the offing that would be definitive over Florida, this route that she has sought to take may be quickest way to settle the issue once and for all in Florida. The other reality may be that Bondi sees the issue of gay marriage to be more and more of a liability to her re-election effort and she is trying to appease those on both sides of the issue.
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