Tag: Utah

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Utah: Governor Herbert sends email to state agencies instructing them to follow ruling on marriage equality

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Utah Gov. Herbert’s office sent an email to state agencies telling them to comply with federal ruling on Amendment 3.

Dear Cabinet,

Thanks to each of you for providing an analysis of the impacts to the operations in your respective agencies based on the recent federal district court ruling on same sex marriage. As indicated in your responses, many agencies will experience minimal or no impact.

For those agencies that now face conflicting laws either in statute or administrative rule, you should consult with the Assistant Attorney Generals assigned to your agency on the best course to resolve those conflicts. You should also advise your analyst in GOMB of the plans for addressing the conflicting laws.

Where no conflicting laws exist you should conduct business in compliance with the federal judge’s ruling until such time that the current district court decision is addressed by the 10th Circuit Court.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Derek B. Miller
Chief of Staff
Governor’s Office
State of Utah

Below is an updated map of counties in the state of Utah currently NOT issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, which is in violation of the Amendment 3 ruling and could carry a contempt of court charge.

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Three Utah counties refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples

As more and more counties in Utah begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, three counties still refuse to do so.

From FOX 13 in Salt Lake City:

That leaves Piute, Utah, and Box Elder counties as those who have told FOX 13 they will not issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, despite the potential for criminal charges. The San Juan County Clerk’s Office said Tuesday it has not been asked to issue a license to a same-sex couple, but would “consult with our attorney” if it was.

The Piute County Clerk’s Office said it was waiting for a further ruling by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. The Utah County Clerk has given similar reasoning, and has denied same-sex couples married licenses since Friday. On Monday, county clerk Brian Thompson was served with a lawsuit for refusing to issue a license.

In related news, the Tenth Circuit Appeals Court has yet to issue a ruling on the state’s request for a stay on Federal District Judge Shelby’s ruling.  As such, shiny happy couples keep getting married.

What a great country this is 🙂

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Federal Judge Shelby DENIES stay on marriage equality ruling in Utah

Just tweeted by Ben Winslow of Fox News 13 – Motion to stay marriage equality ruling DENIED!

Marriage equality continues in Utah.

Judge Shelby made clear that all county clerks are required to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples or they would be in violation of the law, thus committing a Class A misdemeanor.

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Tenth Circuit of Appeals Court AGAIM denies Utah Governor’s request for a stay on marriage equality ruling

The governor of Utah requested a stay regarding the recent ruling on marriage equality in Utah, again, this morning after receiving a “no” last night.

And for a second time, the 10th Circuit of Appeals denied the request.

Read the ruling here.

Still waiting on Judge  Shelby’s decision this morning on whether he will or will not stay his own decision.  Should have news any minute.

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Tenth Circuit of Appeals Court refuses to issue stay on marriage equality in Utah

On Sunday, the United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit denied Utah Gov. Gary R. Herbert’s request seeking an Emergency Motion for Temporary Stay following a federal judge’s ruling that struck down Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Shelby ruled Friday in a lawsuit brought by two gay men that Utah state law violates their right to equal protection and due process under the U.S. Constitution.

According to the documents, the filing for an Emergency Motion for Temporary Stay did not address nor satisfy the factors that must be established to be entitled to a stay pending an appeal. The denial is without prejudice if the defendants-appellants file a motion for stay pending appeal that complies with regulations.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert Shelby has scheduled a hearing Monday at 9 a.m. on the state’s request to halt same-sex marriages, and pro same-sex marriage groups in Utah encouraged people to take advantage of the limited window in which marriage licenses were guaranteed to be granted in several counties.

In a post on their Facebook page, Equality Utah said, “Worst case scenario we will only have 1 hour in which marriages can be performed by the respective county clerks.”

In the post titled, “Everything you need to know about getting married tomorrow morning” Equality Utah said they had confirmed that Salt Lake and Weber county clerks would be open and ready to marry people “exactly at 8am”. The post advised couples to download and fill out their applications online ahead of time to expedite the process.

Many legal experts predict Judge Shelby will not issue a stay on his ruling.

(source)

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Governor and Attorney General of Utah will appear in court

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert

Utah’s Governor Gary Herbert and Acting Attorney General Brian Tarbet are in full panic mode over the ruling by Federal District Judge Shelby that the state’s ban on marriage equality is unconstitutional.  They head into court at 9am tomorrow morning asking Judge Shelby for a stay on his ruling while they appeal.

Said Governor Herbert:

“Yesterday afternoon’s ruling from Judge Robert Shelby of the U.S. Federal Court has created a chaotic situation in our state that requires an expedited judicial resolution. Utahns deserve a fair and complete judicial process, and I strongly encourage Judge Shelby to grant the motion for stay until the appeal can be heard and Utah’s constitutional defense of traditional marriage restored.”

Said acting Attorney General Tarbet:

“We are vigorously pursuing an appeal and we intend to bring a Motion to Stay before Judge Shelby at 9:00 a.m. Monday morning. If he declines to rule at that time, we have already petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit for a temporary stay pending Judge Shelby’s decision.”

 Law professor David Cruz says Shelby isn’t likely to issue a stay:

When a loser in federal court asks for a stay of the court’s judgment in order to preserve the status quo during an appeal, Tenth Circuit rules require the court considering such a motion to consider four factors: “(a) the likelihood of success on appeal; (b) the threat of irreparable harm if the stay or injunction is not granted; (c) the absence of harm to opposing parties if the stay or injunction is granted; and (d) any risk of harm to the public interest.” The state official’s arguments on these points in their six-page motion are mighty slim. I recognize that they filed this motion the same day the trial judge ruled in the case, but they should have been prepared for the possibility that he would rule against them and not stay his judgment. (After all, that’s what Chief Judge Vaughn Walker did in the federal litigation that held California’s Proposition 8 unconstitutional.)

(source)

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Utah: Emergency stay on marriage equality ruling filed

Even as same-sex couples in Utah lined up until late in the evening to get a marriage license minutes after Judge Robert J. Shelby declared the state’s ban on gay marriage unconstitutional, the state requested an emergency stay and filed a notice of appeal:

The state filed a notice of appeal late Friday and was working on a request for an emergency stay that would stop marriage licenses from being issued to same-sex couples.

“It will probably take a little bit of time to get everything in place,” said Ryan Bruckman, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office. Bruckman said the judge told the attorney general’s office that it would be a couple of days before he would review any request for an emergency stay.

The Attorney General’s office also released a statement that said, “The federal district court’s ruling that same-sex marriage is a fundamental right has never been established in any previous case in the 10th Circuit. The state is requesting an emergency stay pending the filing of an appeal. The Attorney General’s Office will continue reviewing the ruling in detail until an appeal is filed to support the constitutional amendment passed by the citizens of Utah.”

(source)