Summary: A San Antonio District Judge and the U.S. 5^th Circuit Court of Appeals waited for the Supreme Court’s ruling on gay marriage to make their rulings.

It has been only days since the U.S. Supreme Court made a ruling that gay marriage is protected by the Constitution. When the Court made that decision, they were ruling on four cases in a Cincinnati court. Another legal challenge specific to Texas’ ban was not a part of that ruling since the case had not yet been decided by the U.S. 5^th Circuit Court of Appeals.

  

What

Where

Search Jobs

With the federal ruling, the 5^th Circuit cited the ruling, affirming a lower court ruling that Texas’ ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Orlando L. Garcia of San Antonio ruled over a year ago that the ban violated “the equal protection and due process rights” of the plaintiffs, making it unconstitutional.

Knowing that there would be an appeal, Garcia stayed his ruling until the state could appeal the case at the 5^th Circuit. With the Supreme Court ruling, he lifted his stay requiring the ban to be taken down. The State knew the Supreme Court would make the final judgement but they had hoped the 5^th Circuit would rule on their side.

Neel Lane, attorney for the same-sex couples, had asked the 5^th Circuit to affirm Garcia’s ruling after the Supreme Court’s ruling, stopping any chance for the state to win. With this loss, Republicans are moving their focus to defending religious freedoms.

Source: https://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/01/texas-concedes-legal-challenge-ban-gay-marriage/

Photo: wbdaily.com

Profile: akingump.com