Justice Anthony Kennedy has just denied the petition of an Arizona based group, Alliance Defending Freedom, who filed an emergency motion with the Supreme Court Saturday, seeking to halt the resumption of same-sex marriages in California until further litigation could be brought. Austin Nimocks, lead counsel for the religious group, argued in his petition that Supreme Court’s consideration of Prop 8 is not yet settled law, because his clients still have 22 days to petition for the justices to reconsider the 5-4 decision.
The emergency petition filed by Nimocks called the decision not to hear the Prop 8 case “the latest in a long line of judicial irregularities that have unfairly thwarted petitioners’ defense of California’s marriage amendment.”
“Our clients have not been given the time they are due and were promised so that they can make their next decision in the legal process,” Nimocks argued “The more than 7 million Californians that voted to enact Proposition 8 deserve nothing short of the full respect and due process our judicial system provides. Failing to correct the appellate court’s actions threatens to undermine the public’s confidence in its legal system.”
Justice Anthony Kennedy, who so eloquently penned Wednesday’s majority opinion in Windsor V US, which struck down a key provision of The Defense of Marriage Act, received the emergency request Saturday. In a brief written statement issued hours ago, the Supreme Court announced they had denied Alliance Defending Freedom’s petition for relief saying only, ”Justice Kennedy denied the application on his own, without further comment.”
It seems noteworthy that it was Justice Kennedy who ruled on Alliance Defending Freedom’s motion. There have been three important Supreme Court Cases that have changed the landscape for gay Americans: Romer v. Evans, Lawrence v. Texas and now United States v. Windsor. It was Justice Kennedy who wrote the majority opinion in all three. It’s no surprise some are hailing Anthony Kennedy as ”The First Gay Justice“. It’s good to know he has our back.