BIG GUNS

Utah Appeals Same-Sex Marriage to SCOTUS

Skipping 10th Circuit.

Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes has decided to go straight to the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge a ruling on the state’s same-sex marriage ban. His office announced Wednesday that it would skip an appeal to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and go directly to the highest court in the land. Last month, a three-judge panel on the 10^th Circuit upheld a lower court ruling that marriage was a right guaranteed under the Constitution to same-sex couples. Reyes office refused to comment on the decision to appeal to the Supreme Court. The National Organization for Marriage praised Reyes’ decision, saying in a prepared statement that “We look forward to the court taking this case and remain confident that they will uphold the right of states to define marriage in the law to reflect what it is in reality—the union of one man and one woman.” There is no guarantee the Supreme Court will choose to take on the appeal.