FLORIDA: Judge Might Allow Same-Sex Marriages Today In Miami-Dade County

Via the Miami Herald:

In July, a state judge in Miami-Dade, Sarah Zabel, ruled Florida's marriage amendment violated constitutional rights and ordered Miami-Dade to issue marriage licenses to six same-sex couples who had sued to marry. Like Hinkle, she stayed her own ruling to allow for appeals. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has vigorously defended Florida's gay-marriage ban, appealing Zabel's ruling, a similar one in Monroe County and others. But with no appeal hearings pending, Florida's gay-marriage ban is set to end once the Hinkle stay expires at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

Zabel has scheduled a Monday hearing to decide whether to lift the stay on her July decision. Miami-Dade's elected clerk, Harvey Ruvin, says his office will begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples Monday if the judge lifts her stay. That would make same-sex marriage legal in only in Zabel's circuit, Miami-Dade County, hours before the Hinkle ruling would strike down the gay-marriage ban statewide. If Zabel does not lift her stay, marriage licenses would be available to same-sex couples Tuesday morning in Miami-Dade under Hinkle's statewide order, Ruvin said. Ruvin plans to open his office at 9 a.m., but clerks in Broward and Monroe, each with outsized gay communities, plan to open their doors at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

The hearing is set for 11AM.