U.S. Supreme Court Denies South Carolina Marriage Stay Request

I have noted before the manner in which South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and Attorney General Alan Wilson have been squandering taxpayer funds fighting the inevitable application of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in Schaefer v. Bostic as binding precedent on South Carolina.  As a last ditch attempt, a request for a stay of the U.S. District Court ruling that relied on Bostic was filed with Chief Justice John Roberts.  Today, that request was denied in a 7-2 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.  Only lunatic Justices Scalia and Thomas voted to hear the request.  Here are highlights from WISTV:

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - In a 7-2 decision, the United States Supreme Court has decided to not issue an emergency stay in the ongoing political drama surrounding same-sex marriage, paving the way for the marriages to begin in the Palmetto State at noon Thursday.

With that decision, South Carolina becomes the 35th state in the United States to allow same-sex couples to marry.

In a brief statement, seven of the nine Supreme Court justices denied the stay, but Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Justice Clarence Thomas said they would hear it.

Thursday's decision means there is very little left for Attorney General Alan Wilson to do to stop marriages from beginning at noon.

The attorney general's office released a statement shortly after the decision came down, saying that despite Thursday's ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court has not resolved conflicting rulings by other federal appeals courts.

"When the U.S. Supreme Court. decides to consider the  case, our office will be supporting the position of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is more consistent with South Carolina State law, which upholds the unique status of traditional marriage," the statement said.
Same-sex marriage supporters celebrated the high court's decision.

"The order from the U.S. Supreme Court officially puts an end to the long fight for access to marriage for South Carolina's same-sex couples and their families. This decision clears away the last obstacle to marriage equality in the state," attorney Beth Littrell said. “We congratulate all the happy couples as South Carolina becomes the 35th state where same-sex couples can marry.”

U.S. District Court Judge Richard Gergel, who ruled the state's ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional late last week.

After the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to issue an emergency stay on Gergel's ruling on Tuesday, Attorney General Alan Wilson said he would appeal to the high court.

The 7-2 decision is hopefully a good sign that the 6th Circuit's wrongly decided ruling will eventually be reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court.  Such a ruling would them make same sex marriage legal nationwide, including in Puerto Rico and U.S. territories.