FLORIDA: Pam Bondi Concedes Defeat

Via the Miami Herald:

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, a Republican who vigorously fought to defend the state's same-sex marriage ban against a barrage of legal challenges, on Monday conceded defeat. "The judge has ruled, and we wish these couples the best,'' said Bondi spokesman Whitney Ray in a statement. For the last several months, Bondi sought extensions of the stay from the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court, but both turned her down. A day before a gay-marriage ban that has been ruled unconstitutional is lifted in the rest of the state, Miami-Dade County became the first place in Florida to allow same-sex couples to marry on Monday when a judge lifted the stay there. Ray said there has been no decision as to whether Bondi will continue to pursue the appeal before the 11th Circuit.

There may be no "official" decision on dropping the appeal, but legal insiders have been expecting as much for the several days since Bondi's office notified the Eleventh Circuit Court that they would not be issuing a response brief to the plaintiffs' most recent filing. Keep in mind, however, that we've also seen "surrender" fake-outs from the likes of Idaho Gov. Butch Otter.

Bonus sadz from John Stemberger: "There could be an appeal to the 11th Circuit but I'm not sure how successful that would be given the fact that they've kicked it back once. She's done her job, and that's all we could ask of her, and she's done it well."