Decision on Utah Stay of Same-Sex Marriage Ruling Won’t Come for Days; Judge Trolled Scalia

There won't be a stay in the ruling for days, the AP reports:

The state filed a notice of appeal late Friday and was working on a request for an emergency stay that would stop marriage licenses from being issued to same-sex couples.

‘‘It will probably take a little bit of time to get everything in place,'' said Ryan Bruckman, a spokesman for the attorney general's office. Bruckman said the judge told the attorney general's office that it would be a couple of days before he would review any request for an emergency stay.

Meanwhile, the County Clerk's office in Salt Lake City opens at 11 am on Saturday, ready to marry.

Reuters adds that Judge Shelby (pictured) completely trolled SCOTUS Justice Antonin Scalia in his ruling:

Scalia warned that the Supreme Court's reasoning that struck down the Defense of Marriage Act — which denied federal benefits to same-sex couples — could be used to strike down state laws banning same-sex marriage. Scalia, who's notoriously anti-gay marriage, was saying this was a bad thing. In an interesting twist, Utah's Judge Shelby quoted Scalia's negative prophecy in his pro-gay marriage opinion:

"In my opinion, however, the view that this Court will take of state prohibition of same-sex marriage is indicated beyond mistaking by today's opinion. As I have said, the real rationale of today's opinion … is that DOMA is motivated by 'bare … desire to harm' couples in same-sex marriages. How easy it is, indeed how inevitable, to reach the same conclusion with regard to state laws denying same-sex couples marital status."

Shelby then wrote that he "agreed" with that part of Scalia's opinion, and offered his response. Though Scalia meant it as some kind of dire warning, Shelby cited the Supreme Court's decision as a reason to overturn Utah's law:

The court agrees with Justice Scalia's interpretation of Windsor and finds that the important federalism concerns at issue here are nevertheless insufficient to save a state-law prohibition that denies the Plaintiffs their rights to due process and equal protection under the law.

And also cited Scalia's ruling in Lawrence v. Texas:

The court therefore agrees with the portion of Justice Scalia's dissenting opinion in Lawrence in which Justice Scalia stated that the Court's reasoning logically extends to protect an individual's right to marry a person of the same sex.