Today, the Supreme Court decided to postpone same-sex marriage cases.
Earlier in the week the court was scheduled to privately discuss the recent overturn of same-sex marriage bans in the lower courts of Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia, and Indiana. Both sides of the cases brought the appeal to the Supreme Court to decide whether same-sex marriage is a constitutional right on a national level.
Many who study the court say that the justices will take as long as weeks or even months before making a decision. Besides the five states that have appealed to the high court, there are several others whose appeals are currently pending.
In recent years, many appeals to strike down bans on gay and lesbian unions have been approved. 19 states and the District of Columbia have legalized same-sex marriages. The Supreme Court's decision would automatically determine the legal fate of the remaining 31 states.
The past year witnessed a pattern of overturned gay marriage bans that is promising for those who hope that the Supreme Court will rule in favor of legalizing same-sex espousals nationwide. However, back in September 3 Louisiana's Federal Judge Martin L.C. Feldman upheld the state's ban on gay marriage, which broke a streak of 21 rulings in favor of same-sex unions since June of 2013.
According to the Associated Press, when Justice Antonin Scalia was asked on Wednesday about the Supreme Court's status on deciding on the appeals he answered jokingly, "I know when, but I'm not going to tell you."
The Supreme Court has been urged by more than 30 states to consider the issue by both sides of the marriage equality debate. Currently, the justices have not decided to take the marriage equality cases, but have taken on other issues such as Medicaid reimbursement. Some believe that the court is waiting on the Sixth Circuit's ruling on same-sex marriage before taking on the marriage eqaulity cases.
