This week, the
Seventh Circuit granted a stay in the Indiana marriage cases pending resolution by SCOTUS.
The Tenth Circuit has put the Colorado marriage equality case on hold pending further order of the Court. The Court has ordered the parties to notify the Court within ten days if the SCOTUS acts on the certiorari petitions in the Utah and Oklahoma marriage equality cases. The parties have also been instructed to provide the Court with status reports thirty days after the date of the order to hold the case (9/18/14).
In Florida, AG Pam Bondi has filed a motion to intervene in the marriage equality (divorce) case in Broward County. The judge in that case had vacated his ruling the week before as a result of a procedural error. Apparently, AG Bondi had not been properly notified of the lawsuit.
In Puerto Rico, the plaintiffs in the marriage equality case there have filed a motion for summary judgment.
In Wisconsin, the state has asked for a stay from the Seventh Circuit. There seems to be some confusion as to whether or not the stay (issued by the district court) remains in effect. Also, the ACLU in Wisconsin has filed a new lawsuit to require recognition of marriages of same-sex couples performed there (prior to Judge Crabb issuing the stay).
In West Virginia, the stay has been extended till the SCOTUS resolves the Virginia marriage equality case.
On Wednesday, GLAD's Mary Bonauto was named one of the 2014 recipients of MacArthur Foundation “genius grants,” which acknowledges the nation's most talented and accomplished artists, scholars and professionals. Bonauto is the attorney who argued the Massachusettes marriage equality case before that state's highest court.
From On Top Magazine:
“This award is a testament to the justice-seeking work of innumerable people all across the nation,” Bonauto said in a statement. “I deeply appreciate the Foundation's vote of confidence in our movement's work as we strive to remove barriers to LGBT people's full participation in society. So many have given so much to bring us to this point – whether our courageous plaintiffs or people whose names history may never know – and every bit of it has mattered. This honor is an investment in a better future for all.”
Bonauto is widely recognized as an architect of the marriage equality movement, working on lawsuits that led to the nation's first civil union law in Vermont and the nation's first marriage equality law in Massachusetts.
Evan Wolfson of
Freedom To Marry responds to the news:
Mary Bonauto is a giant in the campaign to win the freedom to marry, universally acclaimed for winning momentous cases across the range of lesbian and gay civil rights concerns, for spearheading the litigation strategy that effectively brought down the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, and for exceptionally high standards as a practitioner and partner. And Mary’s brilliance and accomplishments are not confined to the courtroom; she has been a key shaper of the message and strategies that have helped us build political and public support alongside the legal progress. Mary and I have worked hand in glove for (gasp!) 25 years now, strategizing together and assisting and playing off each other in all aspects of the work, and I am thrilled to see her duly recognized today as the American hero she has always been.
Justice Ginsburg gave a speech/talk at the University of Minnesota's Law School last week, and she made some interesting comments about when she believes the SCOTUS will address marriage equality. She said to look to the Sixth Circuit. If the Sixth Circuit issues a ruling against marriage equality, there would be a split/disagreement between circuit courts and the issue would become more urgent for the SCOTUS to resolve.
From towleroad:
On Tuesday, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dropped some hints about the Supreme Court's plan of action on the issue of gay marriage. In a talk at the University of Minnesota Law School, the Justice said people should look to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals as an indicator for when the Supreme Court will address marriage equality.
The AP reports:
[Ginsburg] said 'there will be some urgency' if [the Sixth Circuit] allows same-sex marriage bans to stand. Such a decision would run contrary to a legal trend favoring gay marriage and force the Supreme Court to step in sooner, she predicted. She said if the appeals panel falls in line with other rulings there is 'no need for us to rush.'
Ginsburg also noted what she described as a "remarkable" shift of public opinion on gay people, and she gave her theory on why this is, saying: "Having people close to us who say who they are — that made the attitude change in this country."
It wasn't only shoptalk during Ginsburg's appearance, as she let her hair down and showed the audience her playful side. She touched on her friendship with Antonin Scalia, joking about her plans for a comic opera entitled "Scalia/Ginsburg."
The audience really fell out when Ginsburg put the "supreme" in "Supreme Court" by sharing her true dream job:
If I had any talent God could give me, I would be a great diva.
You can hear Ginsburg's lecture
here.