US: Supreme Court meeting tomorrow to consider same-sex marriage cases
The Supreme Court is set to meet tomorrow to discuss taking up one of several pending cases surrounding same-sex marriage bans.
Justices will hold a closed-doors meeting to consider taking up their first same-sex marriage case since last year’s United States V Windsor, when the Defence of Marriage Act banning federal recognition of marriages was struck down.
Since the Windsor ruling, a total of 40 federal and state courts have found bans on marriage to be unconstitutional, with 81 ongoing legal battles across all of the 31 states which do not currently recognise same-sex marriage.
There are cases pending before the Supreme Court from Indiana, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Utah, and Virginia.
Paul Castillo of Lambda Legal, which represents same-sex couples in the Indiana and Virginia cases, told NBC: “Because of the unprecedented speed at which the courts are almost unanimously striking down these laws, I think we are at a watershed moment in American history and everybody anticipates that this will be resolved by the Supreme Court.”
However, the Court has discretion as to whether it will take up a case or not, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg warned earlier this month that there was “no rush” at present to do so.
32 states have petitioned the Supreme Court to rule on same-sex marriage bans – with 15 states urging the Court to strike down marriage bans, and a further 17 calling on the Court to rule due to the number of ongoing legal battles.
More than 30 leading companies including Amazon, CBS, eBay, Nike, Target, Intel, Viacom and Ben & Jerry’s have also filed a brief calling for the Court to strike down marriage bans.
However, the White House is yet to file a brief calling for the Court to take up a case, despite Attorney General Eric Holder confirming the administration would back same-sex marriage in a Supreme Court battle.
