NEWS

Supreme Court will hear Ohio gay marriage case

Richard Wolf
USA Today

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court's next date with history is April 28.

The court announced Thursday that 2 1/2hours of oral argument on whether states can ban same-sex marriage will take place that day. In addition, audio transcripts of the argument will be released later that day, most likely by 2 p.m. Rarely does the court release audio of oral arguments until the end of each week they are held.

Briefs from same-sex couples challenging the bans in four Midwest states were filed last week. Friend-of-the-court briefs supporting them have been arriving this week in advance of a Friday deadline.

By the end of the day Friday, scores of briefs supporting gay marriage are almost certain to be piled high at the court.

On Friday, a "people's brief" with more than 200,000 signatures will be filed by the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay rights organization. The first signature: Edie Windsor, who won the 2013 case striking down a key section of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

Attorneys representing Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee have several more weeks before their briefs defending the bans are due. Following that, the couples challenging those bans will have one more chance to file reply briefs in early April.

The case is coming to the high court because the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, which includes the four states, became the only federal appeals court to uphold bans against same-sex marriage in November.

Until its 2-1 ruling, the justices had let other rulings striking down state bans from Virginia to Utah stand, denying those states' petitions seeking high high court intervention.

That, along with new court rulings elsewhere, has resulted in gays and lesbians being able to marry in 37 states, from Florida to Alaska. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is likely to rule soon on a case involving Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, which could bring the number up to 40.

Next month's oral argument will include 90 minutes on the basic right to marry in each state, and 60 minutes on whether states can refuse to recognize the legal marriages of couples moving in from other states.

Those interested in hearing the case will be able to get the recording and transcript from the homepage of the court's website, www.supremecourt.gov.

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Those interested in hearing the case will be able to get the recording and transcript from the homepage of the court's website, www.supremecourt.gov.