The U.S. Supreme Court has decided to hear four same-sex marriage cases and will rule on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage bans by early summer. A federal court decision made same-sex marriage legal in Alaska in October.
The Parnell administration started the appeals process for that decision. The Walker administration had been debating whether or not to continue with the appeal. But Cori Mills with the Department of Law says the Supreme Court’s decision to make a final ruling on same-sex marriage bans preempted the Walker administration. Attorney General Craig Richards issued a statement saying he will ask the 9th Circuit to put a hold on Alaska’s appeal until after the Supreme Court makes a final ruling.
Mills says same-sex couples in Alaska can continue to marry as the case proceeds through the court system. The Supreme Court denied the state’s request for a stay on same-sex marriages last fall.
Anne Hillman is the healthy communities editor at Alaska Public Media and a host of Hometown, Alaska. Reach her at ahillman@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Anne here.
