State to seek same sex marriage appeal

Frontiersman.com

JUNEAU — The state of Alaska announced Friday it will ask the U.S. 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals to put on hold its appeal of the Hamby v. Parnell decision while the U.S. Supreme Court considers the question of same sex marriage.

The announcement by Alaska Attorney General Craig Richards came Friday after the high court announced it would consolidate appeals from six cases heard by the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. That court has thus far been the only appellate body to uphold state-level same sex marriage bans.

“The Supreme Court announced today that it granted certiorari to four same-sex marriage cases,” Richards said in a statement Jan. 16. “Certiorari” is a legal term referring to the Supreme Court’s decision to review a lower court’s ruling. “The court’s order makes it clear that it will address the same issues that are at the heart of the Alaska same-sex marriage case, which is on appeal before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.”

The Supreme Court has asked for briefs considering these questions:

1) Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex?

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?

Briefing from both sides are scheduled to conclude by April 17, with a ruling as early as June.

Alaska is one of 35 states, and the nation’s capitol, where same sex couples can be granted marriage licenses.