Some good news out of Virginia recently: the Fourth Circuit has refused to extend their stay of their decision legalizing same-sex marriage in the state, and should nothing else change, same-sex marriages will start in Virginia (and possibly West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina) on August 21.
The request for the stay came from Prince William County Clerk Michele McQuigg. NOM has her back:
We urge the Supreme Court to grant Prince William County Clerk Michèle McQuigg's request for a stay of the decision in Bostic v. Schaefer while the matter is appealed. The 4th Circuit has wrongly rejected the request for a stay, and now it lies with the Justices in Washington to ensure that this case can be appealed in an orderly and reasonable fashion without the spectacle of premature same-sex ‘marriages’ filling the news as an affront to the people of Virginia who voted overwhelmingly to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. As the Court stayed a similar decision in the case coming out of Utah, we urge them to find the same good reasons for staying the present decision, maintaining the dignity and credibility of the judicial process and giving the people of Virginia the respect they deserve to defend their vote for marriage before our highest court.
They're desperate. The stay of
Kitchen v. Herbert is not a good indicator or precedent to determine what will happen in Virginia. You probably know that in Virginia, neither Governor McAullife nor Attorney-General Herring are defending the ban. In Utah, however, the state is defending the ban. The request for a stay of the District Court decision came from them, and because they have standing to appeal the ruling, the stay was granted.
I am very skeptical that Michele McQuigg has standing to appeal this ruling, and would not be surprised if the Fourth Circuit's decision is later vacated for this reason. She is only a county clerk, and we've seen county clerks attempt to intervene and ask for stays before. Last month, Justice Alito denied a request from Pennsylvania clerk Theresa Santai-Gaffney to stay Whitehood v. Wolf, the decision legalizing same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania. In both Pennsylvania and Virginia, neither the governor nor the attorney-general appealed the favorable District Court decisions.
In denying the Pennsylvania stay, Justice Alito cited National Organization for Marriage v. Geiger, the case where NOM sought a stay of marriage equality in Oregon from the Supreme Court and was denied. In both Oregon and Pennsylvania, it was clear that only the state may request a stay, and the situation is Virginia is no different. McQuigg is not a representative of the state of Virginia.
To me, it's telling that NOM chose to cite the stay granted in Utah as opposed to the stays denied in Oregon and Pennsylvania as a reason in favor of a stay in Virginia. That they are citing completely irrelevant cases suggests to me that they know will lose in Virginia. They know that the relevant cases do their cause no good.
I don't want to raise false hopes, but I think marriage equality is coming to Virginia on Thursday. 20 down, 30 to go.