MICHIGAN: State Asks For Full Sixth Circuit Court To Hear Marriage Appeal

Michigan has asked for an en banc review of the marriage equality case now before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Lyle Dennison writes at SCOTUSblog:

This is the first time that a state which has had its ban on such marriages struck down in a district court has asked for full court review of an appeal. Federal judges in Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee have ruled in favor of same-sex marriage claims — sometimes broadly, sometimes more narrowly – and each of those has now been appealed. The Sixth Circuit has put each of them on an expedited review schedule, but so far has given no indication that this would be done other than by separate three-judge panels. The normal path for cases in the federal appeals courts begins initially with three-judge panels; then, if the case is of major importance, it may go before the full tribunal. It takes a majority vote of all of the active judges on the full court to grant such rehearings. Such en banc review is not common, but it also is not rare.

Dennison notes that leapfrogging the normal three-judge review would likely speed the case to its inevitable appeal before the US Supreme Court. (Tipped by JMG reader Dwight)