Just as same-sex marriages had started to proceed in Alaska the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a temporary stay halting the weddings for now.
The Washington Blade reported that according to the two-page order, same-sex weddings are stayed until Friday at 12 p.m. Pacific Time (3 p.m. Eastern Time) to give state officials the opportunity to obtain an additional stay from the Supreme Court. But if the Supreme Court declines to halt the weddings, the Ninth Circuit stay will dissolve by that deadline.
Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell and Alaska Attorney General Michael Geraghty had sought an emergency stay on same-sex marriages after U.S. District Judge U.S. District Judge Timothy Burgess, who’s struck the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, refused to grant a stay on his ruling. After that denial, state officials took up the matter with the Ninth Circuit, which has jurisdiction over Alaska.
“As Alaska’s governor, I have a duty to defend and uphold the law and the Alaska Constitution,” said Gov. Parnell when the state’s ban on same-sex marriage was struck. “Although the district court today may have been bound by the recent Ninth Circuit panel opinion, the status of that opinion and the law in general in this area is in flux. I will defend our constitution.”
