News (USA)

No action from U.S. Supreme Court on same-sex marriage cases

No action from U.S. Supreme Court on same-sex marriage cases
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Supreme Court

WASHINGTON — The waiting game stretches on for gay and lesbian couples after the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday took no action yet on appeals asking it to consider the issue of same-sex marriage.

There was hope that Thursday could be the day the justices took a case from one of five states where appeals are pending — Utah, Indiana, Oklahoma, Virginia and Wisconsin. Instead, the guessing game about when, and if, the Supreme Court will take a case goes on.

The justices are scheduled to meet again Oct. 10 to consider new cases, and decisions about what to hear could be announced then or Oct. 14.

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“It’s totally up to the court when they are going to take a case and when they’re going to let us know,” said Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which is representing the plaintiffs in the Utah case. “They know how important this issue is. We just have to be patient.”

Some legal scholars speculate the justices might be waiting for rulings pending out of the 6th and 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to see if either court upholds a ban.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg addressed this recently at a forum in Minnesota, when she suggested the court might wait for a split among appeals courts that typically triggers Supreme Court review.

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