Court taps judges to hear gay marriage case involving Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi
Three federal appellate judges will hear arguments next week in lawsuits challenging state prohibitions of same-sex marriage in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals announced on its website Monday.
Judges Patrick Higginbotham of Dallas, Jerry Smith of Houston and James Graves Jr. of Jackson, Miss., will sit on a panel that will hear appeals from state officials in Texas and Mississippi of lower-court rulings that overturned the two states’ gay marriage bans.
In the Louisiana case, U.S. District Judge Martin L.C. Feldman upheld his state’s ban, so there, same-sex couples are appealing.
University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias, who closely tracks the gay marriage suits, said in an interview that while the 5th Circuit is one of the most conservative appellate courts in the country, opponents of gay marriage aren’t guaranteed to prevail.
Read more: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2014/12/court-taps-judges-to-hear-gay-marriage-case.html/
Cross-posted in the LGBT Group.
