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Gay marriage case sent to Florida Supreme Court
http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2014/08/27/gay-marriage-case-sent-to-florida-supreme-court/14705637/Florida's ban on gay marriage is now in the hands of the state's highest court after an appeals court asked that the justices resolve the controversial prohibition.
The request Wednesday from the 2nd District Court of Appeal for the first time puts the Florida Supreme Court in the position of deciding whether to take up the issue after five recent state and federal court decisions found that the voter-approved prohibition against same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.
The appeals court made the request in a 10-3 ruling in a case involving the divorce of Mariama Monique Changamire Shaw and Keiba Lynn Shaw, a lesbian couple married in Massachusetts in 2010. Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Laurel Lee refused to grant the couple a divorce because state law bans same-sex marriages.
The couple appealed Lee's ruling and asked the 2nd District Court of Appeal to "pass through" the case to the Supreme Court. A panel of the appellate court originally refused but, in an unusual twist, the full court revisited the case, resulting in Wednesday's ruling. It is unknown whether the Supreme Court will agree to take up the case.
The issue is whether Florida's ban on same-sex marriage and the prohibition on recognizing such marriages "unconstitutionally limits various constitutional guaranties including full faith and credit, access to courts, equal protection and the right to travel," the majority wrote in the 11-page ruling.
The request Wednesday from the 2nd District Court of Appeal for the first time puts the Florida Supreme Court in the position of deciding whether to take up the issue after five recent state and federal court decisions found that the voter-approved prohibition against same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.
The appeals court made the request in a 10-3 ruling in a case involving the divorce of Mariama Monique Changamire Shaw and Keiba Lynn Shaw, a lesbian couple married in Massachusetts in 2010. Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Laurel Lee refused to grant the couple a divorce because state law bans same-sex marriages.
The couple appealed Lee's ruling and asked the 2nd District Court of Appeal to "pass through" the case to the Supreme Court. A panel of the appellate court originally refused but, in an unusual twist, the full court revisited the case, resulting in Wednesday's ruling. It is unknown whether the Supreme Court will agree to take up the case.
The issue is whether Florida's ban on same-sex marriage and the prohibition on recognizing such marriages "unconstitutionally limits various constitutional guaranties including full faith and credit, access to courts, equal protection and the right to travel," the majority wrote in the 11-page ruling.