Supreme Court justice blocks Idaho same-sex marriage
[JURIST] Justice Anthony Kennedy of the US Supreme Court [official website] on Wednesday temporarily blocked [text, PDF] same-sex marriage in Idaho. An earlier order blocked same-sex marriage in Nevada as well, but Kennedy vacated [text, PDF] that stay on Wednesday afternoon. The orders follow a Tuesday decision from the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] striking down same-sex marriage bans in both states. The order was delivered by Kennedy because each member of the Court is assigned a US federal district to supervise and Kennedy oversees [Atlantic report] the Ninth Circuit. The stay remains in effect until the Court receives the plaintiff's reply on Thursday. Kennedy may either grant or dissolve the emergency stay or refer the application to the full court for review.
The debate over the legalization of same-sex marriage [JURIST backgrounder] has been one of the most contentious issues [JURIST op-ed] nationwide for the previous year and a half. On Tuesday the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit struck down [JURIST report] same-sex marriage bans in Nevada and Idaho [case materials]. The court found that the bans violate same-sex couples' due process and equal protection rights. The Ninth Circuit's ruling came one day after the Supreme Court declined to rule [JURIST report] in all seven same-sex marriage cases before the court. The court's ruling allows lower court rulings to stand, effectively legalizing same-sex marriage in Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia, Wisconsin and Indiana. Same-sex marriage bans in states including Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina have also effectively been nullified by the ruling, as they fall under the jurisdiction of appeals courts that have struck down same-sex marriage bans.
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