TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Nov 11, 2014

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has temporarily blocked same-sex marriages in Kansas in response to the state’s request for a stay. Kansas argues that its case is different from others the court decided not to hear because it deals with the authority of a federal court to overturn a state Supreme Court decision. When a federal judge ordered the state to begin issuing marriage licenses it was “a de facto circumvention” of state litigation, which is working its way through state courts, officials argue. The Kansas Supreme Court had imposed a stay while the case was pending. Sotomayor gave lawyers for same sex couples until 5 p.m. tonight to file a response. The ABA Journal has more.