BY BTL STAFF
WASHINGTON D.C. — Just six weeks before April 28 arguments, the chief lawyers for gay and lesbian couples who are challenging marriage bans in four states asked the high court for divided argument time.
Counsel representing all plaintiffs from the Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee marriage lawsuits submitted a proposal to the U.S. Supreme Court March 17 requesting that argument time be divided equally among the cases from the four states.
The National Law Journal reported that, as with other potentially landmark challenges in the U.S. Supreme Court, lawyer egos, client wishes and historic high stakes have caused friction among the attorneys. The Court previously had mandated that only two attorneys would be permitted to argue the pro-marriage side, but the attorneys have been unable to agree on whom those attorneys should be.
Instead, their proposal requests that four attorneys — one from each state — be permitted to speak for 15 minutes each. Parties regularly ask for divided argument, but the justices rarely say yes. The court's Rule 28 flatly states, "Divided argument is not favored."
The American Civil Liberties Union, Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights and private counsel partners representing couples from Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee issued the following statement:
"We have an incredible wealth of talent available to argue on behalf of same-sex couples' freedom to marry and right to have their marriages recognized in all 50 states. Each of the attorneys who argue will stand on the shoulders of thousands in the movement who worked for decades for this day to arrive and will have the best minds helping them prepare. We look forward to this historic opportunity for advocates from each case to present our compelling arguments to the Court and to share this defining moment with our entire community and the nation."
The Court previously allocated 45 minutes each to petitioners and respondents to question 1: "Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex?" and 30 minutes each to petitioners and respondents to question 2: "Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state?" In addition, the U.S. Solicitor General has requested 15 minutes.
