Pennsylvania won’t contest same-sex marriage ruling
A day after a federal judge struck down Pennsylvania’s ban on same-sex marriages, the state’s governor said he won’t appeal a ruling from U.S. District Court Judge John Jones on the matter.
Governor Tom Corbett said on Wednesday that after discussing Jones’ decision with his legal advisers, his administration will support the court’s ruling.
“I have thoroughly reviewed Judge Jones’ opinion in the Whitewood case. Given the high legal threshold set forth by Judge Jones in this case, the case is extremely unlikely to succeed on appeal,” Corbett said in a statement.
“Throughout the debate on this important and meaningful issue, I have maintained that Commonwealth officials and agencies would follow the provisions of Pennsylvania’s marriage law unless or until a court says otherwise. The court has spoken, and I will ensure that my administration follows the provisions of Judge Jones’ order with respect for all parties,” Corbett said.
Same-sex couples in the state starting applying for marriage licenses on Tuesday, just hours after Judge Jones issued a strongly worded 39-page decision.
“We are a better people than what these laws represent, and it is time to discard them into the ash heap of history,” Jones said.
“The fundamental right to marry is a personal right to be exercised by the individual,” Jones said, adding that the rights “have always been guaranteed by the United States Constitution.”
With Oregon not expected to appeal a similar ruling from Monday, 19 states and the District of Columbia have now have laws or court rulings that permit same-sex marriages. In all, the same-sex marriage states represent 44 percent of the U.S. population.
In addition, appeals are in process in Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia, Texas, Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and Idaho after court rulings there overturned same-sex marriage bans.
Most experts believe at least one federal appeals court will overturn a lower-court ruling, creating the conditions needed for the Supreme Court to rule on the matter in its next term, which begins in October 2014.
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