FLORIDA: Federal Judge Denies Request To Lift His Stay On Same-Sex Marriage

Via press release from the ACLU:

Today, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle denied a motion filed by the ACLU of Florida asking the court to quickly lift the stay that had been placed on the Court’s decision striking down Florida’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples, and denied a motion by the state to extend the stay until the appeals are resolved.

On October 7, following a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court not to hear several other marriage appeals and thereby allowing marriages to go forward in several states, the ACLU of Florida filed a motion urging the District Court to lift the stay that had been put on the August 21st ruling that struck down Florida’s marriage ban in two state cases. One case was brought by the ACLU on behalf of 8 couples, a Fort Myers widow and SAVE, South Florida’s largest LGBT rights organization; the other was brought by Jacksonville attorneys William Sheppard and Sam Jacobson, who concurred with the ACLU motion.

On October 24th, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office filed a motion to keep the stay in place until the appeals are resolved. Today’s decision denied both motions and stated that the stay will be lifted on January 5, 2015 unless extended by the federal appeals court.

Read the decision.