Marriage News Blog
Today, at their first private conference of the new term, the Supreme Court justices will consider whether to review the question of marriage equality once again this coming year.
Currently, there are 7 petitions for writ of certiorari, or requests for review, from 5 different cases including AFER’s Virginia case, Bostic v. Schaefer. The Justices may decide to hear one case, multiple cases, or may hold off on the issue all together. An affirmative vote by 4 Justices is needed to grant a petition.
The Court is expected to release an Orders List by October 6, 2014 that will indicate which – if any – marriage equality case it will consider. The Court may also table the cases and not list them on any Orders List until they have come to a conclusion on whether to consider a case.
AFER has brought together two of the nation’s most prestigious lawyers, Ted Olson and David Boies, to fight for marriage equality for all Americans. They represent two loving couples – Tim Bostic & Tony London of Norfolk and Carol Schall & Mary Townley of Richmond. Ted and David and the AFER team successfully defeated Proposition 8 and restored marriage equality in California with a first-of-its-kind victory at the Supreme Court last year.
If the Supreme Court decides to review the Bostic case, the Justices will decide whether Virginia’s discriminatory marriage laws violate the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Justices will also consider which level of scrutiny must be applied to cases involving LGBT discrimination.
AFER has achieved victories in two federal courts in Virginia, and the legal team, plaintiffs, and entire AFER team are prepared to defend those historic wins once again – this time at the nation’s highest court.
The outcome of the court’s decision, should they take a case, will be exceedingly precedential for the over 70 marriage equality cases pending nationwide and the most historic marriage victory since Loving v. Virginia which struck down marriage bans for interracial couples in 1967.
In addition to Bostic v. Schaefer, the following cases are being considered for review: Kitchen v. Herbert (Utah), Bishop v. Smith (Oklahoma), Wolf v. Walker (Wisconsin), and Baskin v. Bogan (Indiana).