Utah (sigh)

Supreme Justice Sonia Sotomayor referred the request from Utah for a stay to all of the justices. Today the Supremes issued their usual terse reply. The stay is granted, pending final ruling from the 10th Circuit Court. No dissenters were listed so it appears to be a unanimous decision. No reasoning was given (this is a stay, not a ruling) so there is no telling which arguments given by the state swayed the Supremes. Marriages legalized in the last couple weeks remain valid, but no more gay couples may marry until after a favorable ruling from the 10th Circuit. Or the Supremes.

Of course, there is lots of speculation on why the justices issued the stay and what this means. Lyle Denniston of SCOTUSblog says,

The order, however, cannot be interpreted as a dependable indication of how the Court will rule on the issue when it finally decides to do so directly.
…
The ruling can be interpreted as an indication that the Court wants to have further exploration in lower courts of the basic constitutional question of state power to limit marriage to a man and a woman. Had it refused the state’s request for delay, that would have at least left the impression that the Court was comfortable allowing same-sex marriages to go forward in the 33 states where they are still banned.

So perhaps the Supremes are letting the process play out so they don't have to rule against 2/3 of the states.

Nina Totenberg of NPR says the justices couldn't let this decision stand without a stay because there are 42 same-sex marriage cases in process around the country. If the Utah case was left alone judges in the other cases would see this case as a stamp of approval without the Supremes actually ruling on the case. The issue is way too important for that. This is one of three marriage cases headed to Circuit Courts. The Supremes will not take up any of them before June this year. And the Supremes may not bother next year; they might let the Circuit Court rulings, whatever they are, stand without their review. But this issue seems to be moving faster every year.