State requests more time to file same-sex marriage appeal


5 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — The state backed its request for more time to appeal a lower court ruling in the same-sex marriage recognition case Wednesday with a new brief in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Utah Federal Solicitor Parker Douglas contends the complexity of the case merits a "modest" extension of the Sept. 22 deadline the 10th Circuit imposed last week. The state filed a motion Monday to extend the date to Oct. 22.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents three gay and lesbian couples in the case, wrote in a brief Tuesday that the state has had plenty of time to research the issues to prepare the appeal. It also argued that delays cause financial and emotional harm to the plaintiffs.

Douglas writes that the state has never disputed that the couples "genuinely feel subjected to hardship" but that their attorneys haven't acknowledged the "equally true proposition" that Utah is hurt by not being able to enforce its laws.

U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball ruled in May that Utah must extend marital benefits to about 1,300 gay and lesbian couples who married last winter after another court ruling struck down the state's ban on same-sex marriage.

JoNell Evans and Stacia Ireland, Donald Johnson and Carl Fritz Shultz, Matthew Barraza and Tony Milner, and Elenor Heyborne and Marina Gomberg sued the state in an effort to have their marriages recognized. All were married in Utah between Dec. 20, 2013, and Jan. 6.

The state is appealing the decision that allowed those marriages to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Photos

Related links

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

UtahPolitics
Dennis Romboy

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast