Tag: SCOTUS

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US Supreme Court to hear Prop 8 and Windsor DOMA cases

The US Supreme Court has announced it will hear the appeal of Prop 8 and the Windsor DOMA challenge. ScotusBlog has this:

“Trying to sort this all out, it is clear that the Court has agreed to consider the merits case in Prop. 8, because that is what the petition presented as its question, but that it is also going to address whether the proponents had a right to pursue their case. If the Court were to find that the proponents did not have Art. III standing, that is the end of the matter: there would be no review on the merits of Proposition 8, or of the 9th CA decision striking it down.”

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US Supreme Court to discuss Prop 8 & DOMA challenges November 30

An update from the American Foundation for Equal Rights regarding marriage equality SCOTUS appeals :

AFER just received word from the U.S. Supreme Court that it will discuss whether to hear AFER’s federal constitutional challenge to California’s Proposition 8 at its private Conference on Friday, November 30. The Court will also consider on that date whether it will hear one or more challenges to the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Both the Prop. 8 case and the DOMA cases had previously been distributed for discussion at the Justices’ November 20 Conference.

The updated timeline suggests that we will likely find out if our case will be heard by the nation’s highest court, or if marriages can resume in California, by Monday, December 3. However, there is no deadline by which the Court must act, and the Justices could hold the case for consideration at a future Conference.

I’m personally getting a bit impatient with all the delays, but I’m hoping it leads to good news eventually.

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No word from Supreme Court on Prop 8

I woke up today hoping to hear that the US Supreme Court had made a decision on whether to take on review of the Prop 8 case or not (which would basically kill Prop 8). In a disappointing beginning to my week, SCOTUS today took no action on any of those cases.  It doesn’t mean anything concrete other than we must continue to wait for a decision.

So there are a couple possible scenarios left according to SDGLN:

1. The Supreme Court, on Oct. 8, will release the list of cases that it will not consider. If the Prop 8 and/or DOMA cases are placed on that list, then the lower court rulings will stand. Gay and lesbian couples in California would again be able to marry, as soon as the lower courts sign off on the case.

2. However, if the Prop 8 and/or DOMA cases are not on the list, that means the Supreme Court could be postponing any decision on those cases until after the presidential election, making Nov. 19 a highly watched date. There is also the distinct possibility that the justices will merge several high-profile gay-rights cases to review en masse.

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Marriage News Watch – September 25, 2012

In what is easily the most anti-climactic possibility for an announcement regarding the Supreme Court and marriage equality, SCOTUS released it’s list of cases it will take up this year and the California Prop 8 case is not on the list.

However, that is not the end of the road for Prop 8 just yet.  There are still other variables in this equation.

From the American Foundation for Equal Rights:

The Justices meet nearly every week to determine the cases they will take up. The next time we could hear something is Monday, October 1 at 9:30 a.m. EDT / 6:30 a.m. PDT, when the Court is expected to release a list of cases it is not hearing this Term.

Some have speculated that the Supreme Court may wait to consider our case until later this fall when the Justices will decide whether to grant review in several cases challenging the so-called Defense of Marriage Act.

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Ginsberg says gay marriage likely to come before SCOTUS within the year

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Wednesday that she believes the Defense of Marriage Act will likely go to the U.S. Supreme Court within the next year.

Ginsburg spoke at the University of Colorado in Boulder. She was asked a student-submitted question about the equal-protection clause and whether the nation’s high court would consider it applying to sexual orientation.

Ginsburg said with a smile that she couldn’t answer the question. She said she could not talk about matters that would come to the court, and that the Defense of Marriage Act would probably be up soon.

“I think it’s most likely that we will have that issue before the court toward the end of the current term,” she said.

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