VIRGINIA: AG Mark Herring Ask SCOTUS To Continue Stay On Same-Sex Marriages

Via the Washington Post:

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring (D) told the Supreme Court on Monday that it should put on hold a lower court’s order that same-sex couples in the state be allowed to marry, beginning this week. Herring said that he agrees with the panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit that struck Virginia’s ban as unconstitutional, but that it is better for the Supreme Court to delay the marriages and immediately accept the case for review. “Although it is painful to keep Virginia’s same-sex couples and their children waiting any longer to enjoy the rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment, the rule of law requires that this court be afforded the time needed to settle the question,” Herring wrote in a filing to the court. The groups representing those challenging the ban said the court should not step in to stop the marriages, which would commence Thursday without Supreme Court intervention.

AFER, Lambda Legal, and the ACLU, who represent the plaintiffs, have not yet responded to Herring's move. Yesterday all three issued briefs opposing any continuance of the stay.