This morning we reported that Idaho's Attorney General has filed an emergency motion to recall the mandate from the 9th Circuit that would have lifted the ban on same-sex marriage in the state.
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, who handles emergency motions from that circuit, has now granted a temporary stay.
UPDATE: The stay also appears to apply to Nevada, which was also part of the 9th Circuit ruling.
The brief order issued by the court said that gay marriage supporters should file a response to the state's emergency request by 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT) on Thursday. The court will then decide whether to issue a more permanent stay. In the meantime, gay marriages in Idaho will not be able to proceed.
The filing by the state said that officials have also asked the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to place its Tuesday ruling on hold while litigation continues. Kennedy is seen as the swing vote on the nine-justice court when it comes to gay marriage.
In their application, Idaho officials argued that their case, if it gets to the Supreme Court, is narrower in scope than the other same-sex marriage cases that the Justices on Monday had refused to review. The questions it would raise are only preliminary to a return of the case to the Ninth Circuit Court, the document argued.
