Appling: Marriage in Wisconsin: So What Now?

“So what now?” That’s the question we’re getting from citizens and the media across Wisconsin who are trying to process what the US Supreme Court’s decision regarding our marriage protection amendment means.

The US Supreme Court early Monday denied Wisconsin’s petition that requested that the high court review the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals decision from early in September that said our marriage amendment violates the US Constitution. The Supreme Court denied not only Wisconsin’s petition, but also those of four other states.

Judicially what happens when the US Supreme Court denies such a request is that the decision of the court that most recently acted on the case stands. In this instance, it’s the7th Circuit Court of Appeals, which, again, ruled against our amendment.

That means for all practical purposes clerks in Wisconsin can once again begin issuing marriage licenses to persons of the same sex. I say “once again” because they issued such licenses originally in the week between the original ruling by Judge Barbara Crabb and when she finally said a week later her ruling didn’t take effect until after all the appeals had been exhausted.

But this is only part of the story. Legal experts tell us that the US Supreme Court deciding not to take any of the 5 cases doesn't mean the end of the issue.
continue at WFC 

A good read. If you don't already donate, you should be.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You can thank John Roberts for this.

Victor Nolan said...

What protection does the Catholic Church have from not being forced to perform same sex marriages?

The Danish National Church was forced to perform those marriages. I know some will say that the pretext in that case is that that Church is state affiliated.
But what about when one says that pretext should be irrelevant and that the Catholic Church cannot deny the sacrament of marriage to gay/trans/whatever couples?