UPDATE IV: Supreme Court Justice Kennedy Blocks 9th Circuit Marriage Ruling
The Supreme Court has just blocked the 9th Circuit Court’s ruling that found same-sex marriage bans in Idaho and Nevada to be unconstitutional.
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy this morning granted an immediate stay after receiving an emergency request from the State of Idaho.
The AP reports the stay was granted only “minutes” after Idaho’s request was filed.
The state’s request said that without a stay, state and county officials would have been required to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples at 10 a.m. EDT.
Kennedy’s order requested a response from the plaintiffs involved in Idaho’s gay marriage lawsuit by the end of day Thursday.
Yesterday afternoon the 9th Circuit struck down same-sex marriage bans in Idaho and Nevada as unconstitutional.
UPDATE I – 10:35 AM ET:
It is not clear yet if the order includes Nevada, although it appears to. More to come.
Also, via Think Progress:
It’s important not to overread the significance of this order. It is common, when a lower court issues an order that the justices have not had time to fully consider, for a single justice or the full Court to temporarily halt the lower court’s decision until the Supreme Court has had time to examine it. Nevertheless, Wednesday’s order from Justice Kennedy suggests that, whatever the Court intended to accomplish when they denied review in several marriage equality cases on Monday and effectively legalized same-sex marriages in much of the country, they are not yet ready to get out of the way completely and allow equality to flourish in all fifty states.
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UPDATE II – 10:49 AM ET:
Chris Geidner at Buzzfeed has the same question re Nevada.
Question: Did Justice Kennedy just issue a stay of the mandate in 12-17668, which is the Nevada marriage case, as well?
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) October 8, 2014
SCOTUSblog seems to suggest Kennedy’s order applies only to Idaho:
“Idaho same-sex marriages delayed,” is the title. “The order means that gay and lesbian couples will not be able to obtain marriage licenses in that state in the meantime.”
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UPDATE III – 10:55 AM ET:
The AP reports Kennedy’s order includes Nevada:
“The order also applies to Nevada, where marriage licenses to same-sex couples were going to start to be issued later Wednesday.”
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UPDATE IV – FINAL UPDATE – 3:57 PM ET:
Breaking: Supreme Court Restores Same-Sex Marriage In Nevada
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This is a breaking news and developing story — please stay tuned for additional details.
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Image: Flickr
Hat tip:Â Capital T Capital J
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