Supreme Court Puts Off Action on Marriage Cases

Expectations of Supreme Court action on key marriage equality cases will have to wait until this Monday or possibly longer, as the justices finished their conference Friday without indicating their plans for the challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8.

The court issued its order list granting writs of certiorari in two cases, neither of which included the 10 petitions related to marriage equality, according to SCOTUSblog. The court could make its plans known on Monday, but it could also take more time, with the court scheduled to hold another private conference next Friday.

“The next opportunity for the Court to issue orders will be at 9:30 a.m. Monday,” reports SCOTUSblog. “Nothing has ruled out the possibility that some actions on same-sex marriage could be announced at that time, although there is no indication that that will occur.  It may be that the Court needs more time to decide what it wants to do next on any of the cases.”

The petitions under consideration involve multiple challenges to DOMA, the 1996 law that prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. The court has also been asked to consider the lawsuit against California's Proposition 8 and a case involving the Arizona law that ended domestic-partner benefits for state employees.