News (USA)

Florida AG wants appeals court to extend stay on same-sex marriage ruling

Florida AG wants appeals court to extend stay on same-sex marriage ruling

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is asking to keep intact the state’s ban on same-sex marriage until ongoing appeals have finished.

Attorney General Pam Bondi (R-Fla.)
Attorney General Pam Bondi (R-Fla.) AP

A federal judge earlier this month decided to keep Florida’s ban in place through Jan. 5. That means no same-sex marriages can take place for now.

But Bondi’s office on Tuesday asked the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to keep the stay in place beyond that date.

U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle in August ruled the Florida gay marriage ban was unconstitutional. But he stayed the effect of his decision, hoping to avoid confusion while the state appealed it.

Those challenging Florida’s ban had asked Hinkle to change his mind after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to take up cases from other states.

Bondi has filed appeals in both state and federal appeals courts, seeking to overturn a number of rulings declaring Florida’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional by declaring that the trial courts’ rulings “were wrong.”

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