The Supreme Court decreed today that same-sex marriage licenses won’t be issued this week in Virginia after all, putting a lower court’s ruling on hold on Wednesday.
From the Washington Post:
The court stayed a decision by a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, which on July 28 agreed with a district judge’s ruling that Virginia’s ban is unconstitutional. The same panel declined last week to delay its ruling.
The Supreme Court’s action was expected. Its one-paragraph order came without noted dissent from any of the nine justices and was consistent with its decision granting a stay in Utah, another state where a ban was found unconstitutional.
The court said the stay would continue until they decide whether or not to take the case. If they did take the case, the stay would continue untiil they issued a ruling. According to CNN, same-sex marriage is now legal in the District of Columbia, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington state.
