Same-sex marriage advocates to urge Supreme Court to strike down state bans
Source: Reuters
In a bold legal move that few litigants try, gay marriage advocates plan to urge the U.S. Supreme Court in three pending cases across the country to decide once and for all whether states can ban same-sex unions.
Gay and lesbian plaintiffs won before appeals courts in cases involving bans in Virginia, Utah and Oklahoma, and lawyers for those states have already asked the justices to take up their appeals. Lawyers defending the bans contend that the U.S. Constitution gives the states the role of defining marriage.
In what is a relatively unusual strategy, all three sets of challengers have said they want the justices to review the lower court rulings, even though those decisions favored their side by striking down individual state bans.
The parties that won in lower courts do not usually seek review. It is seen as a sign of the plaintiffs’ optimism that the justices would side with them that they are joining the appeals.
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Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/08/27/same-sex-marriage-advocates-to-urge-supreme-court-to-strike-down-state-bans/