Florida attorney general Pam Bondi is asking a circuit court to keep the stay on same-sex marriage until the appeals process has run its course.
The state’s motion applies to U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle’s August ruling that Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. Hinkle made the ruling on two lawsuits fighting for marriage recognition for gay couples legally married out-of-state.
With no action, the stay would be lifted and same-sex marriages would be allowed in Florida Jan. 6, 2015.
“This Court should extend the stay because, on balance, it is in the public’s best interest to wait for an appellate decision before implementing an order of this significance,” the Nov. 18 motion filed with the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reads.
Bondi argues that keeping the stay in place is a matter of public interest.
“If Florida’s law is going to change in the substantial manner plaintiffs seek, it should be only after the plaintiffs’ legal claims undergo appellate review. The public interest is not served by on-again, off-again marriage laws,” the motion reads.
The filing also argues that the state has a chance of success in the case and therefore, the stay should remain.
Read the full motion: 2014-11-18-Grimsley-FL11thCircuitStayMotion
“As if it wasn’t clear already, Attorney General Bondi and Governor Scott are putting up every possible legal obstacle they can think of to try to postpone the inevitable: loving couples being able to have the commitments they’ve made to one another respected by the state they call home,” said Daniel Tilley, ACLU of Florida LGBT rights staff attorney, in a media release. “The State has plenty of time to prepare for marriages to begin in January, as Judge Hinkle’s latest order required, and every day that our clients go without the protections and responsibilities of marriage, they are being harmed.”
Tilley said they’re preparing a response explaining why this motion should be denied, which will be filed soon.
