Supreme Court Unanimously Stays Utah Court's Gay Marriage Edict; Orders Appellate Court to Review Question Before Implementing Holding

A Utah court declared -- surprise, surprise -- that gay marriage was now an enshrined right in the Constitution. Nobody's quite certain when this Secret Amendment was passed, but, given the fact the the US system of government is now based on White House statements made during press conferences, it was probably when the doltish Vice President declared that he was "absolutely comfortable" with same sex marriage.

So let it be decreed.

Now the Supreme Court has halted gay marriage in Utah, at least until an appellate court has rendered its own decision.

During the 17 days of the holding, many gay Utahns got married. (I read the number 900+ somewhere but I can't find it now.) Their actual status is now in doubt.

"Clearly, the stay should have been granted with the original District Court decision in order to have avoided the uncertainty created by this unprecedented change," Gov. Gary Herbert said.

Now the state is trying to determine whether the marriages that have already taken place are still valid, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes said. He said he didn't know when they'd make a determination, saying they don't want to rush an important legal decision.

"This is precisely the uncertainty we were hoping to avoid by requesting the stay," Reyes said. "It's unfortunate that many Utah citizens have been put into this legal limbo."

It was indeed arrogant for the courts to refuse a stay on such a major ruling, on the say-so of only a district court judge.

And how will the appellate court, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals based in Denver, rule? Well, they sort of already ruled -- three times.

Sotomayor is assigned to the 10th Circuit Court, which rejected Utah’s request for a stay three times.

So that's where their heads are at: They refused to issue a stay, a delay in the execution of the ruling, three times.

posted by Ace at 06:25 PM

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