SOUTH CAROLINA: AG Alan Wilson Fights Demand For Legal Fees Over Marriage

Via the Associated Press:

South Carolina’s chief prosecutor says the state shouldn’t have to pay legal fees for a couple who challenged the state’s gay marriage ban. Attorney General Alan Wilson says in papers filed Wednesday he was merely defending the law of the land as it stood before the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling on gay marriage in late June. Attorneys for Colleen Condon and her partner Nichols Bleckley sued last year to get a marriage license. They have asked to be reimbursed $153,000 in legal costs.

A second couple is also asking to be reimbursed $92K.

Matt Baume: Marriage News Watch

Clip recap: "South Carolina's anti-gay Attorney General may have to pay tens of thousands of dollars to gay rights groups. New research shows why marriage equality has been so successful so fast. And Hillary Clinton gets thanks for supporting the freedom to marry from an unlikely source."

SOUTH CAROLINA: State Asks Fourth Circuit Court Not To Rule On Appeal

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson yesterday petitioned the Fourth Circuit Court, asking that they not rule on his marriage appeal until the Supreme Court issues a decision on the cases out of Sixth Circuit. Wilson, like his counterparts in several other states, is desperately trying to keep his case alive so that marriage equality can be undone should SCOTUS rule negatively. See the motion at Equality Case Files.

SOUTH CAROLINA: AG Vows To Fight On

BREAKING: Supreme Court DENIES Stay Demand On South Carolina Marriage

BOOM! And that's THAT!

UPDATE: From the local NBC affiliate:

The United States Supreme Court has stepped in and decided to not issue an emergency stay in the ongoing political drama surrounding same-sex marriage in South Carolina. In a brief statement, the court straight denied the stay, but Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Justice Clarence Thomas said they would hear it. Thursday's ruling means same-sex marriage applications will be accepted beginning at noon. Last week's ruling was decided by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Gergel, who ruled the state's ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional late last week. After the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to issue an emergency stay on Gergel's ruling on Tuesday, Attorney General Alan Wilson said he would appeal to the high court. 

South Carolina Earns Stripes Of Progress

Yesterday the Fourth Circuit Court refused South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson's demand to continue the stay on same-sex marriages during his appeal. Almost simultaneously, a separate federal court ruled that South Carolina must recognize out-of-state marriages, prompting Wikipedia's marriage map monitor to apply the above blue stripes of progress. Late last night Wilson took his stay extension demand to SCOTUS. Barring action from that court, marriages will commence at noon tomorrow.

SOUTH CAROLINA: AG Alan Wilson Files Stay Extension Demand With SCOTUS

Read the full demand at Equality Case Files.

BREAKING: Fourth Circuit Court DENIES Marriage Stay For South Carolina

UPDATE: Lambda Legal reacts via press release:

Today, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit denied the State of South Carolina’s motion to stay last week’s U.S. District Court ruling striking down the state’s discriminatory marriage ban, setting the stage for marriages to begin for same-sex couples at Noon on Thursday, November 20. South Carolina’s Attorney General filed a motion for an emergency stay to delay marriages following a ruling by the U. S. District Court for the District of South Carolina striking down the state’s discriminatory marriage ban in accordance with the Fourth Circuit’s earlier decision striking down a similar ban in Virginia.

"The end game is clear - marriage will soon be available for same-sex couples in South Carolina. This is a great victory for same-sex couples and their families because it removes one more hurdle to finally walking down the aisle," said Beth Littrell, Senior Attorney in Lambda Legal’s Southern Regional Office based in Atlanta. “We urge the Attorney General to stop trying to delay the inevitable - their actions are damaging to families they were elected to protect,” said South Carolina Equality lawyer Malissa Burnette, partner at Callison Tighe & Robinson. “We are ecstatic as we get ready to go pick up our license at Noon on Thursday,” said Lambda Legal client Colleen Condon.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Plaintiffs Demand That Marriage Ruling Stay Ends On Thursday

The stay on South Carolina same-sex marriages is due to expire on Thursday. Late last night the plaintiffs in that case filed a motion in opposition to state Attorney General Alan Wilson's demand that the stay be continued while he flails about with appeals. Via the Post & Courier:

"Currently 34 states permit same-sex couples to marry, or recognize marriages legally celebrated by same-sex couples in other states. If history is any indicator, the State's claim of potential harm here is overstated, if not completely contrived," the new filings says. Malissa Burnette, lead attorney in Condon's case, has said she feels very optimistic the Fourth Circuit will uphold Gergel's ruling. It is the same court that struck down Virginia's constitutional gay marriage ban and was among those that triggered the recent cascade of legalized same-sex marriage across the nation.

The Fourth Circuit could rule on Wilson's request for an emergency stay at any time. Wilson has argued that South Carolina's voter-approved constitutional gay marriage ban differs enough from Virginia's that it warrants new consideration by the Fourth Circuit. Burnette counters that the two bans are almost identical. Also, despite a tide of rulings in favor of same-sex marriage nationwide over the past six weeks, Wilson argued that a recent surprise ruling by the Sixth Circuit in Ohio upholding a gay marriage ban makes it more likely the U.S. Supreme Court will weigh in nationally - and perhaps halt the march of gay marriage across the country.

If the Fourth Circuit denies Wilson's stay extension demand, he will surely immediately petition SCOTUS, where Chief Justice John Roberts has jurisdiction. If no stay extension is granted by either court, same-sex marriage licenses will be issued at noon on Thursday. South Carolina has a 24-hour waiting period to marry, but judges have waived such requirements in other states on a case-by-case basis. 

Matt Baume: Marriage News Watch

Clip recap:

More victories this week. Marriage has started in Kansas, and a judge has overturned a ban in South Carolina but you still can't get married there yet. The lawyer who got DOMA overturned is now taking on Mississippi's marriage ban. And a few states are taking a closer look at overturning marriage bans at the ballot or in the legislature, just in case the Supreme Court doesn't come through for us.

SOUTH CAROLINA: AG Alan Wilson Vows To Appeal Ruling To Fourth Circuit Court

"Today's ruling comes as no surprise and does not change the constitutional obligation of this office to defend South Carolina law, including, but not necessarily limited to, appeal to the Fourt Circuit. Therefore we will immediately appeal to the Fourth Circuit. Also, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld traditional marriage. Therefore, we have opposing rulings between federal circuits, which means it is much more likely that the U.S. Supreme Court could resolve the matter at the national level. We believe this office has an obligation to defend state law as long as we have a viable path to do so. Finally, our unique law are not the same as those in other states. Therefore, based on the time-honored tradition of federalism, this Office believes South Carolina's unique laws should have their day in court at the highest appropriate level."- South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, via press release.

SOUTH CAROLINA: AG Calls For Marriage Suit Dismissal Because Sixth Circuit

 Via the Associated Press:

A federal judge should dismiss a challenge to South Carolina's constitutional ban on gay marriage following last week's federal appeals court ruling upholding such bans in other states, Attorney General Alan Wilson says in legal arguments filed Monday. "The recent tide of same-sex marriage cases has run squarely into the extremely well- reasoned opinion" by the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Wilson wrote in a motion filed in federal court in Charleston. Colleen Condon and Nichols Bleckley, who last month applied for a same-sex marriage license in Charleston County, want U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel to issue an injunction preventing South Carolina from enforcing its ban, effectively opening the way for same-sex marriages in the state. But Wilson wrote that the decision by the appeals court in Cincinnati supports "the clear constitutionality of same-sex marriage bans under the Constitution."

Wilson's step-father is Rep. Joe "You Lie" Wilson.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Gov & AG File Motion Opposing Demand For Gay Marriage

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and state Attorney General Alan Wilson, both of whom are up for reelection today, have filed a federal brief opposing the demand that the state comply with the ruling of the Fourth Circuit Court and allow same-sex marriages to commence. Via the Post And Courier:

The 57-page brief filed late Monday argues that a lawsuit filed last month by Charleston County Councilwoman Colleen Condon and her partner, Nichols Bleckley, should not move forward and that an injunction they requested not be granted because the case is moving quickly enough to avoid any serious harm. The brief also contends that federal courts overall have moved at an unprecedented pace already. "Centuries of precedent have been swept away in other jurisdictions in the space of only two or three years. Never have the Courts made judgments so quickly about an issue that had received little attention before now. But the legal proceedings are not over," the filing says.

A preliminary injunction is an "extraordinary and drastic remedy" designed to avoid "irreparable harm," which attorneys for Haley and Wilson contend hasn't been proven. If Gergel grants the injunction, the defendants want him to issue a stay while they appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. "The window should not be opened on same-sex marriages at the substantial risk of closure again should the Defendants' appeal be successful" the brief says. Attorneys for Condon and Bleckley have until noon Wednesday to file a response. Gergel could rule any time after that.

So marriage could be legalized as early as tomorrow afternoon, although the state will surely go through the same gyrations we saw in Idaho and elsewhere. Read the full brief at Equality Case Files.

SOUTH CAROLINA: AG Alan Wilson Vows To "Exhaust Every Legal Option"

SOUTH CAROLINA: State Supreme Court Meets As License Deadline PassesUPDATE: State Supremes Halt Licenses

Yesterday more than a dozen same-sex couples were issued marriage license applications in South Carolina. The one day waiting period for the licenses to become valid elapsed at 9AM.  The local ABC News affiliate reports on Twitter that the state Supreme Court is meeting right now to consider state Attorney General Alan Wilson's motion to block those licenses. Stand by....

UPDATE: No validation and no more license applications until the state Supreme Court rules. Via the Associated Press:

A judge in Charleston says he will wait for the South Carolina Supreme Court to rule before he issues any same-sex marriage licenses. Probate Court Judge Irving Condon issued a statement late Thursday morning saying the justices asked him to wait until they can consider the case before any licenses are issued. Attorney General Alan Wilson had asked the justices to block the issuance of any licenses. It was not clear when the Supreme Court would act. It was hearing regularly scheduled cases Thursday. Nichols Bleckley, part of one of the first couples to be approved by the judge Wednesday, said she is disappointed the decision, but knows she and Charleston County Councilwoman Colleen Condon will get their license eventually. Colleen Condon asked to intervene in the case Thursday.

UPDATE II: The state Supreme Court has ordered that no more licenses be issued until a ruling is issued in the marriage equality case currently before a federal court.

The justices issued a ruling late Thursday morning, a day after Probate Court Judge Irving Condon began accepting applications for the licenses. He based the move on a ruling overturning Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban by a court with jurisdiction over South Carolina. The Supreme Court’s order disappointed dozens of gay couples in a whirlwind week of legal maneuvers. Attorney General Alan Wilson had asked the justices to block the issuance of any licenses. Meanwhile, a case from a couple who were married in Washington, D.C., and want to be recognized in South Carolina and have the ban overturned is before a federal judge.

SOUTH CAROLINA: AG Asks State Supreme Court To Stop Marriage Licenses

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has asked the state Supreme Court to stop the issuance of same-sex marriage licenses.

A rally Wednesday that was planned to put pressure on the state to overturn its constitutional ban on gay marriages instead turned into a celebration after the stunning decision by Charleston County Probate Judge Irvin Condon. The judge issued a license for Charleston County Councilwoman Colleen Condon and her partner Nichols Bleckley and at least 14 more for same-sex couples throughout the day. But state law requires all couples to wait 24 hours after applying to get their marriage license. Wilson's office filed its paperwork just minutes before the state Supreme Court closed at 5 p.m. They are asking justices to rule before the 24-hour window closes Thursday morning. The justices gave no indication when they might rule. In their filing, attorneys for the state said the probate judge's decision was premature. The attorneys said the legal issues around whether same-sex marriage is legal in South Carolina remain unsettled.

As the article notes, if the Court doesn't rule tonight, today's licenses become valid in the morning.