US Supreme Court halts Utah same-sex marriages

[Adam]

Breaking: High court puts same-sex marriage on hold in Utah

(CNN) – Marriage licenses for same-sex couples in Utah can no longer be issued, after the Supreme Court on Monday ruled in favor of the state's request to temporarily block the impact of a federal judge's recent ruling striking down as unconstitutional a ban on gays and lesbians from legal wedlock.

U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby said in December the state's law "conflicts with the United States Constitution's guarantees of equal protection and due process under the law."

The issue on enforcement is tricky since hundreds of marriage licenses have already been issued by some Utah counties in the nearly two weeks since the decision was announced.

Voters there approved a law banning same-sex marriage in 2004.

Monday's action on the enforcement question is temporary and does not offer the final word on the constitutionality of the state's ban on same-sex marriage.

A Denver-based federal appeals court will take up the larger issues on an expedited basis in coming weeks, but in the meantime has allowed those marriages to continue.

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An interesting note:

The request was presented to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who asked all her colleagues to weigh in. Monday's order had no noted dissents and can be enforced immediately.

Also:

L. A. Times

WSJ

WaPo

[Novaheart]

Shelby is obviously correct. The Supreme Court is to some extent more interested in the dog and pony show than in what we might think of as justice. So they will put a hold on things while they work through the system, as a demonstration of the court's power. The SC giveth and taketh away and all that. It will all work out in the end, because Shelby is correct.