The issuance by a Kansas federal district court on Nov. 5 in Marie v. Moser of a preliminary injunction against Kansas' ban on same-sex marriages has generated a flurry of appeals. That preliminary injunction was to take effect today. (See prior posting.)
On Nov. 6, Kansas filed an emergency motion with the 10th Circuit to stay the district court's injunction to give Kansas time to seek an initial appeal to the 10th Circuit en banc. Three-judge panels of the 10th Circuit have already ruled against same-sex marriage bans in Utah and Oklahoma. (Kansas AG's statement.) On Nov. 7, the 10th Circuit denied the motion for a stay. Yesterday, Kansas filed a stay application (full text) with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and Justice Sotomayor issued an order (full text) staying the preliminary injunction until today and ordering plaintiffs to file a response by this afternoon.
Meanwhile, in a Nov. 7 opinion (full text), the district court denied the motion by Westboro Baptist Church to intervene in the appeal so that it can raise religiously-based arguments against same-sex marriage. (See prior posting.) WBC immediately filed a Notice of Appeal with the 10th Circuit. Yesterday's Topeka Capital-Journal reports on developments.
