KANSAS: State Supreme Court Stops Marriage Licenses In Johnson County

Via the Associated Press:

The Kansas Supreme Court has blocked the state's most populous county from issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, hours after the first one was issued under an order from a lower-court judge. The Supreme Court issued a three-page order in response to a petition filed by Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt. The high court said it acted for "statewide consistency." The Supreme Court set a hearing for Nov. 6. Schmidt argued that the chief district court judge in Johnson County exceeded his authority in ordering clerks and other judges to approve marriage applications from gay couples, despite a ban on gay marriage in the state constitution.

Unsurprising.

UPDATE: More to the story from Buzzfeed.

In response to a request from the Kansas attorney general earlier Friday, the court issued the Friday evening order refusing to grant the attorney general’s request for an immediate order that the licenses could not be issued — noting that “the Attorney General’s right to relief on the merits is not clear.” Instead, the Kansas Supreme Court granted the temporary stay and set a schedule for a full briefing of the issues involved — including the question of “whether Kansas’ state constitutional, statutory, or common law bans on same-sex marriage are permissible under the United States Constitution.”

KANSAS: Attorney General Derek Schmidt Asks Court To Block Johnson County Marriage Licenses As First Couple Weds

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt today asked the state Supreme Court to block same-sex marriage licenses in Johnson County.  A lawsuit demanding that Kansas recognize out-of-state marriages was filed in December 2013, but there is presently no challenge to the Kansas ban itself.

Schmidt argues that Chief District Judge Kevin Moriarty exceeded his authority when he directed the court clerk to issue the marriage licenses this week. The attorney general contends that Moriarty didn’t have the power to authorize the licenses in contradiction to the state constitution’s ban on gay marriage. Moriarty issued his order Wednesday after the U.S. Supreme Court opened the door for same-sex couples to get married in Kansas when it let stand lower-court rulings that found gay marriage bans unconstitutional. The court did not rule on the Kansas law, but let stand an appeals court ruling that would be binding if there was a challenge brought against the state law.

It appears that of the 52 marriage license applications filed thus far in Johnson County, only one has been granted. Equality Kansas reports that the couple married immediately this afternoon.