Bondi asks state courts to stop considering marriage equality cases

Florida attorney general Pam Bondi is asking state courts to stop considering cases fighting for same-sex marriage until the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether states have the right to ban marriage equality.

Four Florida judges have ruled the state’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional in the past few weeks. Bondi has filed appeals in two of those cases, triggering an automatic stay. Her request for the state courts to freeze appeals in the cases is contained within new motions filed Aug. 7, pertaining to the cases she is appealing.

“If the United States Supreme Court holds that States must sanction same-sex marriage, then Florida’s contrary laws must fall. And if the United States Supreme Court
holds that States may choose, then Plaintiffs’ contrary legal claims must fall, and it would be up to Florida’s voters to effect any change,” one motion reads.

“Our families  shouldn’t be suffering because our attorney general has chosen a legal strategy that has plagued her with awkward and embarrassing media coverage as she runs for re-election,” said Sue Hoffman, communications manager for Equality Florida.

Utah and Oklahoma this week asked the Supreme Court to decide the issue. Hoffman said it’s not certain whether the Supreme Court will actually hear the cases, and Bondi is essentially saying she wants the U.S. Supreme Court to determine the constitutionality of Florida’s ban on gay marriage.

Samantha Rosenthal contributed to this story. 

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