Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has filed a motion with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas asking for an emergency stay on Judge Robert Hinkle's August ruling overturning the state's ban on same-sex marriage.
Earlier this month, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to extend Judge Hinkle's temporary stay on his ruling. If the Supreme Court chooses to not intervene in Florida, gay couples will be able to wed at the end of the day on January 5.
Responding to today's filing, ACLU of Florida LGBT rights attorney Daniel Tilley stated:
“It is unsurprising, given how hard Governor Scott, his appointees, and Attorney General Bondi have fought to keep loving and committed couples from getting married and having their marriages recognized in Florida, that they would keep up this dead-end fight. But with just weeks until the ruling is scheduled to go into effect, it is disappointing.
“Florida families have waited long enough for the end of a ban that a federal court has declared unconstitutional. Since October, the Supreme Court has refused all requests to stay rulings striking down the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage in other states. We are hopeful they will do the same here so that loving couples and their children can get the protections for which they have waited so long.”
Back in August, Bondi pledged to continue defending her state's gay marriage ban, saying she was "just getting started".
Last month, SCOTUS denied an emergency request in South Carolina's gay marriage case, but Justice Thomas stated he would have granted the stay.
Read Bondi's motion via Equality Case Files:
