By John Mack Freeman
Though many same sex marriage advocates may have been concerned about their forward momentum with the Republican surge win this week in the midterm elections, this has not stopped judicial progress on this issue. Same sex marriage bans fell in both Missouri and Kansas this week.
A state judge in St. Louis, Missouri found earlier this week that the anti-same sex marriage ban was discriminatory and unconstitutional. Today, federal judge Ortie D. Smith agreed in a ruling which can be read here. Marriages will be able to proceed unless an appeal is filed to a higher court that causes a stay to occur.
In Kansas, the Tenth Circuit denied a stay on same sex marriages. Pending other changes, same sex marriages will begin there on Tuesday. From the ruling:
The district court granted preliminary injunctive relief to plaintiffs on November 4, enjoining defendants from enforcing or applying Kansas constitutional and statutory provisions that prohibit issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The district court then stayed its injunctive order until 5:00 p.m. on November 11. Defendants immediately appealed the preliminary injunction ruling and also filed an emergency motion pursuant to 10th Cir. R. 8.1, asking this court to stay the district court’s injunctive order pending their appeal of the ruling. We conclude that defendants have failed to make the showings necessary to obtain a stay, and we deny the emergency motion for a stay pending appeal. We note that the district court’s temporary stay of its own preliminary injunction order remains in effect until 5:00 p.m. CST on November 11, 2014.
