All eyes are on Monroe County as Circuit Judge Luis Garcia hears arguments regarding Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage.
Two men, Aaron Huntsman and William Lee Jones, sued Monroe County Clerk Amy Heavilin in April for marriage licenses.
According to Equality Florida, who has a staffer inside the courtroom, the judge opened the July 7 hearing by announcing that we should not expect a ruling today.
Florida Assistant Attorney General Adam Tanenbaum is expected to appear in the courtroom.
“The voters in 2008 made a policy decision which they had a right to do as to what the definition of marriage should be in the state of Florida,” Tanenbaum told Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Sarah Zabel in last week’s hearing focused on a different marriage equality lawsuit, filed by six same-sex couples and the Equality Florida Institute. “They had that right and it’s not for this court to second-guess or make a determination whether that was a good policy or a bad policy. It remains for this court to simply follow what is binding legal precedent from the U.S. Supreme Court and not to guess what the U.S. Supreme Court may or may not do in the future.”
Plaintiffs Huntsman and Jones are asking for summary judgment.
