Still Waiting

We've been waiting all week for this. And now, we have our answer. And yes, it involves another week of waiting.

Earlier today, the US Supreme Court announced a slew of cases it will be taking up next session. None of those cases are marriage equality cases.

However, the nation's highest court may announce next week more cases it will be taking up in the next session. Might Justices be waiting for decisions from the Ninth Circuit? (Probably, along with decisions from the Sixth Circuit on Tennessee's, Kentucky's, Ohio's, and Michigan's respective marriage bans.)

One of the cases now at the Supreme Court is Kitchen v. Herbert. This is the suit challenging Utah's marriage ban. If the Court decides to reject this appeal, lower court rulings in favor of marriage equality will stand... And marriages will resume in Utah.

Marriage equality will also come to Virginia, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Oklahoma by the end of the year if the Supreme Court rejects appeals in all those cases. But wait, aren't we missing a state?

Hold on. We haven't been forgotten. Actually, Sevcik v. Sandoval is still in San Francisco at the moment. Even though most legal observers have a good idea as to how the Ninth Circuit will rule on Nevada's marriage ban, we still don't have an actual ruling yet. And since the usual suspects will likely appeal if the judges rule against upholding the 2000/2002 marriage ban, Nevada may be included on the Supreme Court's 2015 docket should the Justices decide to take up some or all of the marriage cases.

But for now, we're still waiting.