Sixth Circuit gets confused, upholds same sex marriage ban

By John Mack Freeman 

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the same sex marriage bans that had been challenged in that court from the states of Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, and Kentucky. In a 2-1 split, the majority (both appointed by George W. Bush) found that a same sex marriage ban did not discriminate against LGBT people. The lone fiery dissent accused her fellow judges of abdicating their roles in the judicial process.

However, not all is lost. Many court watchers were disappointed when the Supreme Court neglected to take up any of the same sex marriage cases from October. Many concluded that this was because none of the appeals courts had disagreed. Well, now there is disagreement, and it’s up to the Supreme Court to have the final say. The plaintiffs from all four cases (one for each state) have stated that they are skipping an en banc review from the Sixth Circuit (which would almost surely reverse the decision of the three judge panel) and appealing the case directly to the Supreme Court. If they do it fast enough, the issue may be decided for the entire country by the end of the current term in June 2015.