Big Mistake by Utah’s Attorney General

Andrew Koppleman says “an underreported story in the Utah same-sex marriage case is the incompetence of the Utah Attorney General’s office in litigating the case.”

“Typically, in same-sex marriage litigation, the state accompanies its pleadings with a routine request that, if the trial court rules in favor of the same-sex couples, that ruling be stayed pending the inevitable appeal. That way no licenses can issue until the question is finally resolved. Until now, courts have generally agreed that the question of same-sex marriage is doubtful enough that the status quo should be preserved during the litigation. Everyone agrees that it would be unfortunate for marriage licenses to issue, and couples to order their lives in reliance on them, only to have those licenses voided on appeal.”

“In Utah, however, the state inexplicably neglected to request a stay before the ruling issued.”