BY BTL STAFF
Gay Pride flags flying outside the 6th Circuit Court in Cincinnati.
WASHINGTON D.C – The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) finished issuing orders without any word on whether or not the nine justices will grant review on same-sex marriage.
The court released their order list for Jan. 9, but none of the five same-sex marriage cases were selected. But the move does not necessarily mean the court will not take up the cases this term.
"There are five marriage equality cases before the Supreme Court — the Justices have a lot to consider," Gina Calcagno, coalition manager for Michigan for Marriage, the statewide public education campaign founded by the ACLU of Michigan, Equality Michigan and Freedom To Marry to build support for marriage equality, said.
"Discrimination still burdens too many families and with the split in the courts, it's time for the Supreme Court to take swift action on these cases and bring national resolution once and for all," Calcagno said. "Michigan families, and families across America, should no longer be forced to fight court by court, state by state, day by day for the freedom and dignity that our Constitution promises."
The court has been asked to decide whether or not state bans on same-sex marriages violate the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equal protection under the law. Already, same-sex marriage is legal in 36 states around the country, after SCOTUS' decision in Oct. to not reverse the decisions made in lower courts that found same-sex marriage bans to be unconstitutional.
Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio have all requested review from SCOTUS, each requesting review after the Nov. ruling by the 6th Circuit Court that found same-sex marriage bans to be constitutional, creating appellate court split.
The court will release a lengthy list of actions on new cases at 9:30 a.m. Monday morning. If at that time SCOTUS has issued no action on any of the five marriage cases, it is likely that same-sex marriage will be rescheduled for the conference on Jan. 16, SCOUTSblog.com reports.
