Gay couples in Kansas are now free to get married after the Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed a lower court ruling overturning the state’s ban to go into effect. Earlier this month, a federal judge ruled the state’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional and ordered the state to stop enforcing it. The implementation of the ruling, however, was delayed to allow for the state to appeal. With the hold scheduled to end on Tuesday, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor further extended the delay on implementation to allow the Supreme Court to review the case. On Wednesday, the court lifted the hold, declining to intervene in the case, allowing the lower court’s ruling to go into effect.
“The [Supreme Court] ruling offered no explanation other than to say that Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas would have granted Kansas’ request to delay the order,” the Kansas City Star reports. Meanwhile, Kansas has appealed the federal district court’s decision to the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. “While a three-judge panel of that court has already decided against the state’s ban, the state wants the full court to hear its appeal,” according to the Star. “The Supreme Court already let stand a 10th Circuit Court ruling striking down gay marriage bans in Oklahoma and Utah. Legal scholars are skeptical that the state will win its appeal.”
