High court ruling may lead to gay marriage in 30 states
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court refused to get involved in the national debate over same-sex marriage Monday, leaving intact lower court rulings that will legalize the practice in 11 additional states.
The
unexpected decision by the justices, announced without further
explanation, immediately affects five states in which federal appeals
courts had struck down bans against gay marriage: Virginia, Indiana,
Wisconsin, Oklahoma and Utah.
It
also will bring along six other states located in the judicial circuits
overseen by those appellate courts: North Carolina, South Carolina,
West Virginia, Colorado, Kansas and Wyoming. Lower court judges in those
states must abide by their appeals court rulings.
The
action eventually will bring to 30 the number of states where gays and
lesbians can marry. Appeals courts in Cincinnati and San Francisco are
considering cases that could expand that number further, presuming the
Supreme Court remains outside the legal fray.
Most
court-watchers had predicted the justices would hear one or more cases
this term and issue a verdict with nationwide implications by next June.
But the justices, perhaps sensing that the country is headed toward
legalizing gay marriage without their involvement, chose to deny states'
appeals.
Nineteen
states and the District of Columbia permit same-sex marriage, and the
high court ruled last year that the federal government cannot deny
benefits to such couples. It sidestepped the remaining state laws by
taking no position on the merits of California's ban, which had been
struck down by lower federal courts.
Since
those decisions were handed down, six additional states have legalized
gay marriage, and federal and state judges in 14 more states have
overturned marriage bans, beginning with Utah last December. All those
rulings have been put on hold during the appeals process, leaving 31
bans in place.
The cases that had been under consideration included those from three federal appeals courts:
•
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit
ruled 2-1 in June and July that same-sex couples in Utah and Oklahoma
have "the same fundamental right" to marry as heterosexuals.
•
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit
ruled 2-1 in July that gay men and lesbians have a constitutional right
to marry that is paramount to state marriage laws.
•
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
declared unanimously last month that gay marriage bans in Indiana and
Wisconsin threaten "the welfare of American children."
Last
month, a federal district judge in Louisiana became the first to uphold
a state's ban in the wake of last year's Supreme Court rulings. Until
then, gay marriage proponents had won every federal case.
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