The Shit Just Hit the Fan

[MsGuy]

Or it will unless the 6th US Court of Appeals decides to hear this case en banc.¹

By a 2 to 1 vote the Court of Appeals in Cincinnati just overturned a district court finding a state's anti-gay marriage law to be unconstitutional. This creates a situation where an action is both legal and illegal under Federal law depending on which Court of Appeals region the citizens involved live in. That's the kind of contradiction the Supreme Court has traditionally acted (and sooner rather than later) to resolve.

Most of you will recall that the Supremes recently declined to rule on the question of whether The Constitution's equal rights clause extends to gays wanting to get married. Most folks interpeted this as a victory for gay marriage reasoning 1) failure to take up the case permitted the number of gay marriages to grow exponentially, making an ultimate adverse decision that much more difficult, 2) only 4 justices have to vote to take up a case for review so it appears that justices known or reckoned to be against gay marriage have calculated that they do not have the votes needed to overturn the pro gay lower court decisions (5 needed). In other words, the conservative wing of the Court figured that it was better to dodge the question and hope for a change of the court later rather than risk a pro gay decision now.

Now it's possible that the 6th Circuit will decide that the issue has sufficient importance to hold a new hearing and rule en banc, but as things stand now the Supreme Court will almost be forced to rule on this issue sometime next year.

^x1 En banc is legalese for the all of the judges sitting together to rule on a case in place of the usual 3 judge panel.

[MsGuy]

A bit more detail on the 6th Circuit ruling and how its reasoning differs from the other Circuit opinions.

[Guest zipperzone]

I am so glad I live in Canada where there is no ambiguity about same sex marriage.

[MsGuy]

Interesting how many different ways the Cincinnati ruling affects folks lives:

... plaintiffs include a Cincinnati man who wants his late husband listed as married on his death certificate so they can be buried next to each other in a family-only plot and a Tennessee couple who want to be listed on their newborn daughter's birth certificate.

I confess that when I first heard of gay marriage the whole notion struck me as silly and, full truth be told, made me feel a bit queasy, so I can understand how some straights react to the idea of equality in marriage.

But the more I've studied on it and the more I've learned about all the different ways this issue plays out in real people's lives, the more it's come to seem common sense and basic justice to recognise legally the marriage of same sex couples. Maybe it's not everybody's thing (and it's not for me) but for those who choose this path, it now seems wilfully cruel to me now to stand in their way.

[Guest callipygian]

[MsGuy]

In a speech at the U of Minnesota law school, Justice Ginzburg opined that it would be an urgent matter for the Supremes to take up a gay marriage case if the 6th Circuit let stand its current position, otherwise there seemed to her to be no immediate need for the court to address the issue.

[AdamSmith]

"...Appeals from the Sixth Circuit's decision are likely to be filed [with the Supreme Court] later this week."

http://www.scotusblog.com/2014/11/new-test-of-courts-view-on-same-sex-marriage/

[AdamSmith]

Lambda Legal and ACLU Appeal 6th Circuit Marriage Ban Decision to Supreme Court

http://blog.gayborhoodapp.com/?p=4013

[AdamSmith]

Same-Sex Marriage Heads Back To The Supreme Court

Married same-sex couples and widowers in Ohio file the first of four petitions expected over the coming days asking the high court to resolve issues about marriage and marriage recognition. Update: Tennessee same-sex couples also filed their request with the Supreme Court on Friday.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/same-sex-marriage-heads-back-to-the-supreme-court?s=mobile