Pamela Bondi, Florida’s Attorney General, has asked to move two same-sex marriage cases up to the state Supreme Court for a decision.
The two cases had been pending in Florida’s Third District Court of Appeals. Though in both cases, judges ruled that the state’s 2008 ban on same-sex marriages to be unconstitutional, an automatic stay was placed on both cases. Lawyers for the plaintiffs requested that the cases be moved up to Florida’s Supreme Court, but at the time, Bondi asked to wait and hear what the U.S. Supreme Court decides. Bondi had repeatedly defended the state’s ban in both cases.
Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear the cases regarding five different states’ same-sex marriage bans, Bondi, unlike her previous opposition, has decided that the Florida Supreme Court must take up this issue.
“In light of changed circumstances, the State respectfully requests that the [Third District] Court [of Appeals] act on the suggestion now and certify pass-through jurisdiction,” Bondi wrote in her filing.
“Pass-through jurisdiction” refers to “the fact that when a case is certified by the district court of appeal, the case, quite literally, ‘passes through’ the district court of appeal, without resolution, to the Supreme Court for immediate review of the trial court’s order of judgment,” according to the Florida Bar. And in order for a district court of appeal to certify the case, the Court must see that the appeal is “of great public importance, or to have a great effect on the proper administration of justice throughout the state, and certified to require resolution by the Supreme Court.”
Hence, in order for the case to be taken up by the state Supreme Court, the Third District Court of Appeals must certify the case for pass-through jurisdiction, and the Supreme Court must agree to take the case.
“To be sure, only the rare case meets the threshold for pass-through certification,” Bondi wrote. “But the United State Supreme Court’s recent inaction makes this that rare case. To date, no appellate court in Florida has ruled on the important issue this case presents. Florida’s citizens need a definitive answer, and they need it sooner rather than later. The State of Florida therefore respectfully asks that the [Third District] Court [of Appeals] grant the suggestion and certify these cases for immediate Florida Supreme Court review.”
Supporters of same-sex marriage have expressed that they expect positive results should the state Supreme Court take up the cases, assuming that the decision will follow recent patterns of court decisions that have been favoring same-sex marriages. Currently, there are 30 states that have legalized same-sex marriages or are in process of doing so, 19 states with constitutional bans against same-sex marriages, and one state with a statutory ban.
