BREAKING: US Supreme Court Halts Recognition Of Utah Same-Sex Marriages

Via Chris Geidner at Buzzfeed:

Utah will not need to recognize same-sex couples’ marriages beginning on Monday, following an unsigned order from Supreme Court on Friday afternoon. More than 1,000 same-sex couples married in Utah before the Supreme Court issued a stay in January halting same-sex couples from marrying under a trial court order striking down the state’s ban on such marriages in December 2013. Some of the couples who married during that time sued the state, arguing that the state must recognize those marriages — even while the main case, Herbert v. Kitchen, is appealed. A federal trial court judge agreed, and the state was denied a stay pending the appeal of that second case from the trial court judge and the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor had referred the request to the full court.

UPDATE: Utah Gov. Gary Herbert reacts.

“I believe the Court made the correct decision to issue a stay in the Evans v. Herbert case. This is an important step in the process toward resolution of this issue. Regardless of where you stand on same-sex marriage, all Utahns deserve clarity and finality when it comes to the law. I believe states have the right to determine their laws regarding marriage and, as I have said all along, that decision will ultimately come from the United States Supreme Court.”