Supreme Court Turns Down Same Sex Marriage Cases, Puts Spotlight on 5th Circuit

By Stephen Young Mon., Oct. 6 2014 at 3:35 PM

Federal circuit fight!

Monday morning word came down from on high, or wherever it is the Supreme Court proclamations come from, that the court would not hear any of several same-sex marriage cases it could have this term. In turning down cases from the 4th, 7th and 10th federal circuit courts, the Supreme Court paved the way for same sex marriage to become legal in Virginia, Indiana, Wisconsin, Utah and Oklahoma -- the states whose appeals were denied -- as well as Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming, North Carolina, South Carolina and West Virginia -- states without a pending same-sex marriage case that are covered by those circuits.

The Supreme Court didn't say why it refused to hear the appeals, but it should be noted that there is not yet a circuit split with regard to same-sex marriage. Until a lower court upholds a marriage ban, there is no dispute among the circuit courts for the Supreme Court to resolve.

It shouldn't be long, though. San Antonio-based federal Judge Orlando Garcia struck down Texas' same-sex marriage ban in February. The ruling was stayed pending the state's appeal, which will end up in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court in New Orleans. That court, which recently shuttered all but eight of Texas' abortion clinics, is perhaps the most conservative U.S. circuit court.

It should be said that there is a chance, however small, that two of the 5th's more liberal judges could be selected for the three judge panel that will rule on Texas' case. Were that to happen -- five of the 15 judges sitting on the circuit were appointed by President Clinton or President Obama -- Garcia's ruling might be upheld.

Razvan Ungureanu, a Houston attorney and frequent contributor to his firm's 5th Circuit blog, says that given the court's composition there's a good chance Garcia will be overruled, creating a circuit split that would make the Supreme Court more likely to tackle an issue it has largely avoided thus far.

The 5th circuit denied plaintiffs' in the Texas case request for an expedited hearing in May. Oral arguments for the case have not yet been scheduled.

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Montemalone topcommenter

All this does is re-inforce the fact that there's a bunch of hateful people in the world.

They hate us because we're different.

They hate with a vengeance.

Finally justice is being served.

I have to admit I never thought in my lifetime such a thing would happen.

fordamist

With 30 states and DC not trying to prevent GLBT (the "Q", those still questioning, wouldn't be interested) marriages, the SCt is extremely unlikely to double-back in a year or two and tell all the GLBT-married that they made a mistake, oops, sorry, tough. There weren't four votes to hear the cases, which means Scalia, Thomas, Alioto voted to, CJ Roberts and Justice Kennedy joined the four Dems in passing. Talk about a huge slap-in-the-face for Shiite Babtists!

Perhaps the single greatest day in GLBT (and, ok, Q) history.

bvckvs topcommenter

I'm no fan of government licensing of families - but it's no sweat off my nose if that's what gays want for themselves. On the contrary, I'm going to get a lot out of watching as Republican judges have to either issue rulings they don't actually believe in, or surrender their office. And of course, many won't go easily - insisting as they always have that their religion is superior to our state.

Sara

@fordamist Q also stands for Queer, so... I think they're *very* interested.

Also same sex marriage is a lot less important to the LGBTQ community than, say, the appalling number of homeless queer children and teens. Not as big of a deal as everyone makes it out to be.

ThePosterFormerlyKnownasPaul topcommenter

@bvckvs

Gay marriage? I say every marriage should be gay. It should also be happy, joyful and satisfying.

Oh?, that gay?

In that case, I say let them be just as miserable as the rest of us.

ThePosterFormerlyKnownasPaul topcommenter

@Sara

What is the difference between Q; and, L and G? I understand that L and G tend to be gender specific.

QueerBob

@Sara Have you polled everyone in the LGBTQ community to determine what is important to each of us, before you make the sweeping, presumptuous, and wildly arrogant statement of what our priorities are? Probably not. "Not as big of a deal as everyone makes it out to be"? Perhaps not to you, but yes, for sure, to many of us. Homeless children and teens are clearly a problem, but why do you feel it necessary to diminish the importance of one concern in order to elevate the importance of the other?