The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has granted a request by the state of Utah to extend its deadline for filing an appeal in a case challenging the state's same-sex marriage ban, according to KSL Utah. Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes filed the request to extend the deadline to October 22, arguing the state needed the additional time because "the case is 'factually and legally complex' and that the attorneys on the case already have a busy workload." The ACLU, which represents the couples who sued the state for the right to marry, has said that the state had plenty of time to prepare its appeal, arguing further that delays "cause the plaintiffs financial and emotional stress." Meanwhile, the state claims "it 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 harmed by not being able to enforce its laws."
Gay couples in Utah began to marry after Federal Judge Dale Kimball ruled in December of last year that Utah's gay marriage ban "[denied] its gay and lesbian citizens their fundamental right to marry and, in so doing, demean[ed] the dignity of these same-sex couples for no rational reason." The 10th Circuit then upheld Kimball's ruling but the decision was stayed by the U.S. Supreme Court until Utah could appeal the circuit court's ruling.
Watch a news report on the 10th Circuit's latest decision, AFTER THE JUMP…
