Summary Time is running short for the U.S. Supreme Court to get same-sex marriage on its calendar
WASHINGTON: (AP) - Time is running short for the U.S. Supreme Court to get same-sex marriage on its calendar if the justices want to tackle the issue before their current term ends in late June.
They might have to decide to jump in at their closed-door conference Friday if they want to resolve the legal debate over gay marriage in the next few months. The justices would hear the case in April, the last month for oral arguments before the next term begins in October.
America has seen a rapid and dramatic change in public opinion and laws regarding same-sex marriage. State legislatures have been approving it and, often when they haven t, courts have stepped in to allow it. Same-sex marriage is now legal in 36 of the 50 U.S. states, meaning 70 percent of Americans now live in states where it is legal.
Until now, the Supreme Court, the only tribunal that can reconcile inconsistent rulings among federal appellate courts, has avoided settling the issue for the entire U.S. even as it has contributed to the increase in same-sex marriage.
The Supreme Court danced around the same-sex marriage question in 2012 when it issued a pair of rulings that demonstrated its caution. It upheld a decision striking down California s gay marriage ban but relied on technicalities rather than finding a national right for same sex couples to marry. Then it struck down parts of the Clinton-era federal Defense of Marriage Act, finding same-sex marriages from states where the practice was legal must be recognized.
That decision triggered an avalanche of lower court decisions upholding the rights of gays to marry.
In October, the justices offered no explanation when they passed up appeals from both sides calling on the court to take up gay marriage. The court also subsequently refused to block court orders in favor of same-sex couples from taking effect while state officials appealed. As a result, the number of states where same-sex couples could wed nearly doubled.
Gay marriage has been a volatile social issue in America for years. It once helped Republicans turn out their conservative base during George W. Bush s re-election campaign in 2004, only to become an issue that now vexes the party as public support has swung rapidly in favor of same-sex marriage in recent years. That s a big shift since the Massachusetts Supreme Court declared the state s marriage ban unconstitutional in 2003, prompting states around the U.S. to pass marriage bans.
The appeals before the Supreme Court come from gay and lesbian plaintiffs in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. The federal appeals court that oversees those four states upheld their same-sex marriage bans in November, reversing pro-gay rights rulings of federal judges in all four states.
Ten other states also prohibit such unions. In Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, South Dakota and Texas, judges have struck down anti-gay marriage laws, but they remain in effect pending appeals. In Missouri, same-sex couples can marry in St. Louis and Kansas City only.
Louisiana is the only other state that has seen its gay marriage ban upheld by a federal judge. There have been no rulings on lawsuits in Alabama, Georgia, Nebraska and North Dakota.
Written arguments before the court already would have to be filed on a compressed schedule, though both sides are well versed in the issues after numerous rounds in the lower courts.
