Federal court: No halt to gay marriages in Utah

[Berlin Expat]

Source: Associated Press

A federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that gay marriages can continue in Utah, denying a request from the state to halt same-sex weddings until the appeals process plays out.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the state's request for an emergency stay on a federal judge's ruling that found Utah's same-sex marriage ban violates gay and lesbian couples' rights.

The judge who made that ruling, U.S. District Judge Richard Shelby, refused the state's first request to put a halt to the marriages Monday.

Utah's last chance to temporarily stop the marriages would be the U.S. Supreme Court.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GAY_MARRIAGE_UTAH?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-12-24-19-26-17

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Merry Christmas! Glad to see this; the 10th Circuit basically blew a raspberry to Utah.

[dballance]

1. Courts only stay decisions when they think the party requesting the stay may win on appeal.

This sounds like what happened to Chris Christie. The NJ Supreme Court didn't issue an injunction there either. They basically told Christie they didn't think he'd win on appeal. Seems to be the same reasoning in the 10th circuit. I'm actually surprised.

[RKP5637]

2. Excellent! We need to end persecution in this country. We often have persecution for

the sake of persecution with no intelligence or logic applied.

[Treant]

3. Utah's AG

says he'll go to the Supreme Court, which would be Justice Sotomayer. I wish him luck there, he's gonna need it.

[blkmusclmachine]

5. Utah bigots, cry us a river:

[davidpdx]

14. True, conventional wisdom says she'll probably rule against them

I'm trying to remember if after a refusal if they can ask for an appeal en banc with all seven justices.

[blkmusclmachine]

4. Scalia is salivating his NO vote against gay people, whenever the marriage case reaches SCOTUS.

So, who will be the other NO votes against gay people?

Thomas (of course)
Alito (of course)
Roberts (probably)
Kagan (who knows)
Sotomayor (who knows)

etc.

[William769]

6. Kick & very highly recommended.

[Swede Atlanta]

7. Even as a gay man I wish the trial court had issued a stay....

The trial court knew this would be appealed. By not immediately issuing a stay to give the state and other potential plaintiffs with standing an opportunity to appeal, he has placed the marriages in the interim in jeopardy.

The 10th Circuit is very conservative and we still have a generally 5-4 conservative majority on the Supreme Court. So this case is far from over even given the SCOTUS decisions regarding DOMA and California.

I fear that the joyous couples in Utah may ultimately find their marriages ruled invalid ab initio. What if a couple files a joint tax return for 2013? Would they have to re-file individually? What about assumptions of property transfer at death? The list is endless.

I hear the chorus "Justice delayed is justice denied" but in this case it would be better to have final resolution before people change their life positions only to have the assumptions on which those changes were based ripped away.

I do agree that the fact the 10th Circuit refused to issue a stay and marriages continue suggests the marriages will likely be recognized even in the event of an eventual state win.

The fact that Justice Sotomajor is responsible for 10th Circuit emergency appeals is also positive.

But I still fear disappointment. I would rather pursue this legally to the SCOTUS but not place people's lives in limbo.

[Treant]

8. Refusal of a stay

Contains within it the very strong implication that the court doesn't see the opposition winning on the merits. They're hesitant to issue stays in that case--and they have to be pretty sure of it.

Attempting to annul that many marriages at once comes with some implications, in that SCOTUS chose not to accept the Prop 8 case by ducking on standing (standing has never been a problem in other cases, including Bush v. Gore, where the Supreme Court itself is neither empowered nor qualified to decide the case). Given that the ground on that one was, if I remember correctly, not being able to rescind rights after they've been granted, that causes some interesting issues.

[weissmam]

9. consdiering how mauch money the LDS poured in to

anti gay issues all over the country and specifically Prop 8 , serves them right-Brian Brown should just go shoot himself now or move to Uganda

[Treant]

10. There's a difference

between shooting yourself or having to live in Uganda?

[liberalmuse]

11. This is the best Christmas present ever.

I lived in Utah for many years and pretty much came of age there, and while SLC has pockets of very progressive people, the rest of the state drowns them out. I honestly thought Utah would be the last state to allow gay marriage (if ever), so I'm pleasantly surprised at this recent turn of events. Is it wrong that I cackle with glee every time I read anything about this?

[closeupready]

13. Since only Satan's consorts cackle, yes, it would be wrong.

Cackle away!!

[Tx4obama]

12. Kick n/t

[davidpdx]

15. Still shocked gay marriage is legal in Utah, but not Oregon

I don't think anyone could have seen that one coming.

[alp227]

16. Salt Lake Tribune: 10th Circuit Court denies same-sex marriage stay

ame-sex marriage has been legal in Utah for less than a week, and already, the state is running out of options to stop it.

Late Tuesday, the 10th Circuit Court in Denver denied Utah’s request to put a halt to the marriages, hundreds of which have been happening throughout the state since Friday.

full: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57306142-78/court-utah-state-sex.html.csp

[Rochester]

17. I had thought Utah would be the very last state to allow it

Life's full of surprises. What state is next?

[24601]

18. As I read the story, this wasn't the state making the sdecision but federal courts.

[marshall]

19. Do most people use "gay marriage" and "same sex marriage" interchangably?

In my opinion they aren't the same thing. A same sex couple should be given the right to marriage, for whatever reason they desire, regardless whether either one or both of them identifies as gay. Opposite sex couples get married for a variety of reasons, which sometimes includes love and/or sexual attraction, but sometimes does not.