Virginia announces marriage equality appeal to SCOTUS

Just hours after Utah announced it's intention to ask the US Supreme Court to rule on the recent overturn of that state's ban on same-sex marriage, Virginia's Attorney General has followed suit:

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring says he will ask SCOTUS to review the recent ruling by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals which upheld the state’s ban unconstitutional.

On Friday, Herring, a Democrat who has said the Virginia ban is unconstitutional, will file a petition for writ of certiorari asking the nation’s highest court to hear Virginia’s marriage equality case and definitively settle the constitutional issues it raises.

Bostic v. Schaefer was originally filed on behalf of two same-sex couples in July 2013 by the legal team that challenged California’s Proposition 8, including the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) along with attorneys Ted Olson and David Boies. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Lambda Legal joined the case in March on behalf of all of Virginia’s same-sex couples.

[snip]

“Throughout this case, I have fought for the fundamental rights of Virginians and the quickest possible resolution,” Herring said in a statement. “I believe the district and appeals courts ruled correctly in striking down Virginia’s discriminatory marriage ban, but it has long been clear that the Supreme Court will likely have the final word. I want that decision to come as soon as possible and I want the voices of Virginians to be heard. This case has moved forward at an incredibly swift pace, and I look forward to a final resolution that affirms the fundamental right of all Virginians to marry.”

Clearly, lawyers in both states (and on both sides of the issue) are looking to get to SCOTUS first in what will clearly be a historic court decision.

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