Supreme Court asked to hear Indiana, Wisconsin same-sex marriage cases
The U.S. Supreme Court was asked Tuesday to hear two more cases challenging state bans on same-sex marriage.
In petitions filed with the high court, officials in Indiana and Wisconsin asked the justices to consider cases striking down bans on same-sex marriage in their respective states. The filings come after the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 3-0 last week to uphold lower court decisions finding the two states’ same-sex marriage bans unconstitutional.
“Our state, nation and all persons involved need a final, unambiguous and conclusive answer from the Supreme Court on the legal authority of states to license marriages, and we ask the Court to take up this question through either our case or another case at its earliest opportunity and end the uncertainty,” Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller said in a statement.
The Supreme Court has also been asked to hear arguments in cases challenging same-sex marriage ban in Utah, Oklahoma and Virginia. In each case, same-sex couples challenging the marriage bans have won but still agreed that the Supreme Court should hear arguments (generally winners do not appeal). That is a trend expected to continue with the Indiana and Wisconsin cases.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which represented plaintiffs in both cases, announced Tuesday that they will concur with the petitions for writ of certiorari filed by state officials today and ask the Supreme Court to hear the cases.
“Now that there are petitions before the Court in five cases, it’s crystal clear that the Court needs to take up the freedom to marry issue again. Same-sex couples from every corner of the country are affected, and the high court has the opportunity to end the harm caused by these discriminatory and unconstitutional marriage bans,” said James Esseks, Director of the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Project, in a statement. “Since last June, dozens of courts around the country have ruled in favor of equality for loving and committed same-sex couples. With these filings, we hope it’s only a matter of time before all Americans in all fifty states have the freedom to marry.”
In the Indiana case, Lambda Legal will also urge the Supreme Court to hear the case.
The Supreme Court is not required to take up any of the cases, and should they refuse to do so the lower court rulings will stand. The justices return from their summer recess later this month but it is unclear when they will announce which, if any, of the petitioned cases they will take up.
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