Today, August 13, the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit denied a motion from defendant Michele McQuigg to grant a stay in the mandate of their marriage ruling from late last month.
The ruling, which simply says, “Upon consideration of submissions relative to the motion to stay mandate, the court denies the motion,” means that unless there is further action from the United States Supreme Court, a mandate will be issued in the ruling on Monday, August 18 and same-sex couples will have the freedom to marry and have their marriages respected in VA.
The defendants in the case could still seek a stay in the case from the U.S. Supreme Court.
Claire Guthrie Gastañaga, Executive Director of the ACLU of Virginia, said today: “We hope that the Supreme Court will leave this ruling in place, so that same-sex couples may begin marrying right away. Our clients have already waited far too long to exercise their constitutional right to marry, or to have their marriages from other states recognized.”
For the full article, please visit Freedom to Marry where this article was first published. It’s reprinted here with permission.
