Breaking: Alabama AG Asks 11th Circuit To Place Stay On Marriage Ruling

Alabama’s Attorney General has just filed a motion to stay Friday’s ruling striking down same-sex marriage. 

Luther Strange, the Attorney General for the state of Alabama, has just asked the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to place a stay on a federal ruling that struck down his state’s ban on same-sex marriage. On Friday, United States District Judge Callie V. S. Granade ruled that the State of Alabama’s ban on same-sex couples marrying violates the 14th Amendment and therefore is unconstitutional. Judge Granade did not place a stay on her ruling on Friday, but did Sunday night, for two weeks.

Claiming that the 11th Circuit had refused to place a stay on a Florida ruling that also struck down that state’s ban on same-sex marriage because the Court did not know the Supreme Court would accept same-sex marriage cases, AG Strange argues that his case therefore is different.

“Now, unlike then, we know that the Supreme Court will tell us, within six months, whether states must recognize same-sex marriages,” his 39-page brief reads. “If the Constitution requires same-sex marriage, the stay will be a very short one.”

Unlike Judge Grenade’s ruling granting a temporary stay, Strange argues that he is, indeed, “likely to prevail on the merits of his appeal.”

He also points to Baker v. Nelson as a reason he will win, which many legal experts have dismissed. Strange also argues that the court failed to “acknowledge that the parties presented opposing definitions of marriage,” an interesting yet likely insignificant claim. He adds that because of these “opposing definitions of marriage,” “the ‘fundamental right’ to marry” does not exist for same-sex couples.

“Once the right is carefully described, though, it becomes clear that Plaintiffs seek not the straight-forward right to marry, but the new right to marry someone of the same gender.”

And Strange argues that the “State and the public interest will suffer irreparable harm if the stay is not granted,” while the plaintiffs “will not suffer harm if the Court enters a stay to preserve the status quo during the pendency of this appeal.”

 

Hat tip: Equality Case Files