6th Circuit Issues Stay On Michigan Marriage Equality Decision

Bad news but not surprising. The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has granted the state of Michigan's request for a stay on last Friday's federal district court ruling in DeBoer v. Snyder that struck down the state's ban on marriage equality.

Equality on Trial reports:

The three-judge panel pointed to the Supreme Court’s recent stay in Kitchen v. Herbert, the challenge to Utah’s same-sex marriage ban:

In light of the Supreme Court’s issuance of a stay in a similar case, Herbert v. Kitchen, 134 S. Ct. 893 (2014), a stay of the district court’s order is warranted.

The judges who decided on the motion are Judge John Rogers, appointed by President George W. Bush, Judge Helene White, who was first nominated by President Bill Clinton and later by President George W. Bush when the Senate declined to act on her nomination, and District Court Judge Karen Caldwell, who’s also an appointee of President George W. Bush, sitting by designation.

The decision to halt marriages was 2-1: Judge White dissented, writing that “Michigan has not made the requisite showing” that a stay is warranted, and that the stay in Kitchen provides little guidance here.

It is not surprising that the 6th Circuit issued a stay in the case but it is disappointing. Almost a dozen federal judges in multiple states (Virginia, Michigan, Texas and Oklahoma) have ruled that state marriage laws violate federal constitutional principles since last June's landmark United States v. Windsor ruling. However, marriage equality has not gone into effect as a result of any of those rulings yet. Not yet.