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| FILE - In this Dec. 23, 2013, file photo, Jax and Heather Collins get married at the Salt Lake County clerk's office in Salt Lake City. Same-sex marriage advocates plan to deliver a petition with thousands of signatures to the Utah governor's mansion in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, July 9, |
SALT LAKE CITY
(AP) -- Utah is going directly to the nation's highest court to
challenge a federal appeals court ruling that gay couples have a
constitutional right to marry, the state attorney general's office
announced Wednesday.
The state opted to appeal
the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court rather than request a review
from the entire 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. That
option is now off the table, no matter what the high court decides.
Utah
Attorney General Sean Reyes' office said in a statement the appeal will
be filed in the coming weeks, to get "clarity and resolution" from the
highest court. "Attorney General Reyes has a sworn duty to defend the
laws of our state," the statement said.
The
Supreme Court is under no obligation to hear the appeal of the June 25
ruling by a three-judge 10th Circuit panel, said William Eskridge, a
Yale University law professor. There also is no deadline to make a
decision, he said.
The panel's June 25 ruling
found states cannot deprive people of the fundamental right to marry
simply because they choose partners of the same sex.
The
2-1 decision marked the first time a federal appeals court weighed in
on the matter. It became law in the six states covered by the 10th
Circuit: Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming.
However, the panel immediately put the ruling on hold pending an appeal.
The
Utah case is certain to pique the Supreme Court's interest, but the
justices usually look for cases that involve split rulings from federal
appeals courts, said Douglas NeJaime, a University of California-Irvine
law professor. The court may wait and take up the matter after one or
more of the five other appeals courts with pending gay marriage cases
has ruled.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals heard arguments about Virginia's ban in early May, and a ruling
is expected soon. Arguments are scheduled for August and September in
two different courts for cases out of Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky,
Tennessee, Nevada and Idaho.
Eskridge doesn't expect a quick decision from the high court.
"Why make a decision on the Utah case until they see what the other circuits are going to do?" Eskridge said.
The
ruling by the 10th Circuit panel upheld a lower court's decision that
overturned Utah's gay marriage ban, which voters approved in 2004. More
than 1,000 same-sex couples in Utah wed after the ban was struck down
and before the Supreme Court issued a stay.
The panel considered a similar challenge to Oklahoma's gay marriage ban, but it has not ruled in that case.
Utah
Gov. Gary Herbert hoped the state would appeal to the Supreme Court,
his office said recently. The governor said the state already
anticipated and budgeted for a need to defend the law before the highest
court.
Utah has spent about $300,000 paying
three outside attorneys to defend its same-sex marriage ban. It would
cost another $300,000 to have the trio defend the case at the Supreme
Court, the state estimates.
Plaintiff Moudi
Sbeity called the decision to take the case to the high court "wonderful
news." He and his partner, Derek Kitchen, are one of three gay and
lesbian couples who sued Utah over its gay marriage ban.
"We
are one step closer toward having our families recognized in our home
state," Sbeity said. "It's definitely a case our Supreme Court needs to
hear. The faster we can move on this, the better for all of us."
