WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up the hotly contested issue of gay marriage, a surprise move that will allow gay men and women to marry in five states where same-sex weddings were previously banned.
By rejecting appeals in cases involving Virginia, Oklahoma, Utah, Wisconsin and Indiana, the court left intact lower-court rulings that struck down bans in those states.
Other states under the jurisdiction of appeals courts that struck down the bans will also be affected, meaning the number of states with gay marriage is likely to quickly jump from 19 to 30.
The other states would be North Carolina, West Virginia, South Carolina, Wyoming, Kansas and Colorado.
The issue could still return to the court, but the message sent by the court in declining to hear the matter would be a boost to gay marriage advocates involved in similar litigation in states that still have bans on the books.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/supreme-court-declines-intervene-gay-marriage-cases-135144175.html
Just for my own information and yours I looked up the states where gay marriage is already legal as of today October 6, 2014. They are:
California
Connecticut
Delaware
Hawaii
Illinois
Iowa
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Minnesota
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Vermont
Washington
*Also the capitol (District of Columbia) Washington D.C.
For those particular states whose legal cases were opposed to it, the Supreme Court was really their only hope of maintaining the bans on gay marriage. So by the Supremes refusing to take up the appeals of lower court rulings, the bans on gay marriage in these states are now defunct. They have been ruled unconstitutional.
Again, they are:
Colorado
Indiana
Kansas
North Carolina
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Utah
Virginia
Wisconsin
West Virginia
Wyoming
As stated above from Reuters, this would bring the current number of states with gay marriage from 19 to 30.
I'm no legal expert but I believe this means that failing any more delay-tactic (and useless) appeals, that gay marriage will have to be made legal in these states in a matter of weeks or days.![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
By rejecting appeals in cases involving Virginia, Oklahoma, Utah, Wisconsin and Indiana, the court left intact lower-court rulings that struck down bans in those states.
Other states under the jurisdiction of appeals courts that struck down the bans will also be affected, meaning the number of states with gay marriage is likely to quickly jump from 19 to 30.
The other states would be North Carolina, West Virginia, South Carolina, Wyoming, Kansas and Colorado.
The issue could still return to the court, but the message sent by the court in declining to hear the matter would be a boost to gay marriage advocates involved in similar litigation in states that still have bans on the books.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/supreme-court-declines-intervene-gay-marriage-cases-135144175.html
*******************************************************
Just for my own information and yours I looked up the states where gay marriage is already legal as of today October 6, 2014. They are:
California
Connecticut
Delaware
Hawaii
Illinois
Iowa
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Minnesota
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Vermont
Washington
*Also the capitol (District of Columbia) Washington D.C.
For those particular states whose legal cases were opposed to it, the Supreme Court was really their only hope of maintaining the bans on gay marriage. So by the Supremes refusing to take up the appeals of lower court rulings, the bans on gay marriage in these states are now defunct. They have been ruled unconstitutional.
Again, they are:
Colorado
Indiana
Kansas
North Carolina
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Utah
Virginia
Wisconsin
West Virginia
Wyoming
As stated above from Reuters, this would bring the current number of states with gay marriage from 19 to 30.
I'm no legal expert but I believe this means that failing any more delay-tactic (and useless) appeals, that gay marriage will have to be made legal in these states in a matter of weeks or days.