On again, off again. Can same-sex couples marry in Nevada? The County Clerk of Las Vegas says not right now, despite a Supreme  Court order. Is this any way to run a judiciary?
This morning, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy placed a hold on same-sex marriage in Nevada and Idaho, after both states were prepared to begin issuing licenses. This afternoon, Justice Kennedy removed the hold on marriage in Nevada.
But now, the County Clerk of las Vegas says same-sex marriage is currently on hold.
Mashable attributes the news to “matters at the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.”
According to reports, the court may recall orders implementing decisions on the Idaho marriage ban and is asking whether it should do the same in Nevada. While the court determines this, Nevada will not be issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
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But SCOTUSblog, an hour prior, reported that same-sex marriage is “OK in Nevada.”
Reacting to Justice Kennedy’s order, the Ninth Circuit recalled its orders implementing its Tuesday decision on the Idaho ban, and called for briefs on whether it should also do so on its order on the Nevada case. The new order is here. However, it did not order a stop to same-sex marriages in Nevada in the meantime. In addition, an advocacy group opposed to same-sex marriage filed an application asking Kennedy to postpone the Ninth Circuit decision as it applied to Nevada.
This could simply be confusion and “too many cooks in the kitchen,” so to speak, but the impact is clear: same-sex couples are being denied their legal rights.
Anjeanette Damon, whose bio on Twitter says she is a “Government watchdog reporter at the Reno Gazette-Journal,” tweets, “licenses still on hold pending injunction from district court,” and, “Bottom line, Washoe Clerk will NOT issue licenses until district court injunction.”
The Las Vegas Convention & Tourism Authority had posted “a red ticker across the top declaring: ‘Here comes the pride: Same-sex marriage declared legal in Nevada,'” according to Gay Star News.
That banner does not currently appear.
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