America’s so-called “red states” and “blue states” may have very different views about whether same-sex “marriage” should be legal, but there’s one thing a majority have agreed upon: The Supreme Court needs to make a ruling on the issue, and soon.
Citing the “morass” brought about by dozens of conflicting court decisions at both the state and federal level regarding the legality of marriage protection laws – which define marriage as a union between one man and one woman – seventeen states with such laws have signed on to a court filing asking the Supreme Court to review two federal circuit court rulings overturning Oklahoma’s and Utah’s bans on same-sex “marriage.”
Colorado, which is currently fighting its own battle with the 10th Circuit to save its marriage protection law, led the effort to submit the request, which was ultimately endorsed by Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wisconsin, as well as Colorado itself.
Meanwhile, fifteen states that legally allow same-sex couples to “marry” have signed on to another filing, asking the court to review both the Utah and Oklahoma cases, as well as a third case in Virginia, which also recently saw its marriage protection amendment overturned in federal court.
Led by Massachusetts – the first state to legalize gay “marriage” – a coalition of states including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Washington asked the Supreme Court to uphold the rulings, making same-sex “marriage” legal throughout the United States.
The brief submitted by the states defending their marriage protection laws did not encourage the justices to rule one way or the other. Rather, it focused on the crippling legal expenses being incurred by individual states as they fight on multiple legal fronts to defend the laws in the absence of a definitive ruling by the highest court in the land.
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The last time the Supreme Court weighed in on same-sex “marriage,” it was to strike down a key portion of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which barred the federal government from recognizing same-sex “marriages” performed in states where the practice is legal. The justices ruled that portion of the law to be unconstitutional, and ordered the federal government to start granting the same benefits to same-sex “spouses” as it provides to married couples of the opposite sex.
However, the court stopped short of ruling on the constitutionality of marriage protection laws themselves, leaving each state to decide for itself whether to permit or recognize same-sex “marriage.” The result has been dozens of lawsuits challenging bans on same-sex “marriage,” and a rash of judicial decisions overturning marriage protection laws. Some of those decisions have been stayed pending appeal, but the timing of a few decisions left certain states in the confusing position of having had same-sex “marriage” legalized for a period of hours or days before stays were granted, prompting a fresh flurry of legal action as homosexual couples who “married” during those limited windows sue for legal recognition and benefits.
The Supreme Court is currently in recess, but will reconvene October 6. The Court could announce which, if any, of the cases it will review as soon as September 30. While all three cases being considered for hearing by the Court address the question of whether states can legally ban same-sex “marriage,” only the Utah and Virginia cases address the additional question of whether states with marriage protection laws must recognize same-sex “marriages” that were performed out-of-state.