On Tuesday, October 7, 2014, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down gay marriage bans in Nevada and Idaho in the following cases: Sevcik v. Sandoval (12-17668) in Nevada and Latta v. Otter (14-35420) in Idaho. The ruling in the Idaho case is temporarily stayed while the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether it will review the 9th Circuit’s ruling. Marriage licenses are now being issued to same-sex couples in Nevada.
Because Arizona is within the 9th Circuit, these decisions may affect Arizona even before the Arizona Federal District Court rules on the two gay marriage cases it currently has under advisement. Arizona’s Attorney General, Tom Horne, could direct the county clerks to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples at any time. If the U.S. Supreme Court declines to review or to extend the stay of the ruling in the Idaho case, it is difficult to see how Arizona could maintain that its gay marriage ban is constitutional and enforceable despite the 9th Circuit’s ruling’s being “good law” in Arizona.
Here is a link to the AZ Central article in today’s newspaper: http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/politics/2014/10/09/arizonas-sex-couples-continue-wait-marriage/16955045/
My prediction is that marriage licenses will not be issued to same-sex couples before rulings are issued in the Arizona Federal District Court cases. It is now almost a “sure thing” however, that the Arizona cases will find Arizona’s gay marriage ban to be unconstitutional based on the 9th Circuit’s rulings on October 7. The 9th Circuit rulings are binding on the Arizona District Court Judge, John Sedwick, and it’s hard to imagine any scenario under which Judge Sedwick could make a ruling that goes against the law in the 9th Circuit.
Even if Judge Sedwick rules that Arizona’s gay marriage ban is unconstitutional, marriage licenses may not be issued to same-sex couples immediately after the rulings are published. If there remains any possibility of review by the U.S. Supreme Court, the rulings could be temporarily stayed until the Supreme Court declines to review. If the Supreme Court acts consistently with its rulings on Monday, October 6, the Supreme Court will not review the 9th Circuit’s rulings striking down states’ gay marriage bans, and gay marriage will become legal in Arizona very soon.
As I said in my post two days ago, same-gender divorces will follow the advent of same-gender marriage in Arizona. I and my staff at Scoresby Family Law are committed to providing outstanding representation to Arizonans in divorce and other family law cases regardless of their sexual orientation.
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