A judge has issued marriage licenses to six same-sex couples in South Carolina as the State petitions the Supreme Court to intervene.
Probate Judge Irvin Condon in Charleston, South Carolina today says he has issued six marriage licenses to same-sex couples, after his attorney interpreted a ruling yesterday by a federal judge striking down the state’s marriage ban as sufficient. The state has been awaiting last week’s stay in a separate federal marriage case to expire tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the State of South Carolina is working hard to prevent same-sex couples from marrying. It asked the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals to stay last week’s ruling but was denied. And now, the State’s Attorney General, Alan Wilson, has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene.
Last night, Wilson “asked Chief Justice John Roberts to stop same-sex couples from being able to marry in the state beginning Thursday,” Chris Geidner at Buzzfeed reports.
South Carolina is asking the chief justice to grant a stay pending appeal because, the filing asserts, the 4th Circuit Court was wrong in its decision in the case challenging Virginia’s marriage ban, Bostic v. Schaefer, which the Supreme Court let stand on Oct. 6.
In the mean time, couples will likely continue marrying, at least until the Supreme Court stops them, which it might not.
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