ARKANSAS: Marriage Case To Proceed After State Supreme Court Lifts Delay

The Arkansas Supreme Court today rejected a delay request by state Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, setting the stage for a ruling in the appeal of the case that allowed 500 same-sex couples to obtain marriage licenses before a stay was issued in May. Marriages were stopped for the first time when it was learned that the overturn of the state constitutional ban by Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza did not also strike down a statutory ban on clerks issuing licenses to same-sex couples. Piazza then issued a strike down of that ban as well, after which the state Supreme Court issued its stay. State GOP legislators have vowed to impeach or recall any justice that votes in favor of same-sex marriage.