U.S. Supreme Court decision re-opens gay marriage in Indiana

The move by the U.S. Supreme Court struck some by surprise. All along those on both sides of the issue saw the multiple court hearings and appeals process on Indiana’s same-sex marriage ban as a step to the nation’s highest court eventually taking up the issue.

That didn’t happen on Monday as the Supreme Court rejected cases from Indiana and four other states that had appealed lower court rulings that struck down their bans.

Now the 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, which heard Indiana’s case, can issue an order allowing its ruling that upheld an Evansville federal judge’s decision to strike the state’s ban to take effect.

Once the order, called a mandate, is issued then county clerk’s offices will be required to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, according to Indiana Attorney Greg Zoeller’s office. Indiana also will be required to legally recognize same-sex marriages previously performed in other states. The issuing of the mandate could happen later this week, Zoeller’s office said Monday.

On Monday, Vanderburgh and Warrick counties began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but other counties in Southwestern Indiana told the Courier & Press they were waiting for the mandate or for advice from their county attorney. Dubois County Clerk Bridgette Jarboe said her office would have issued a license on Monday but they had yet to have a request to do so.

The lead attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, who argued against the state’s ban in front of the 7^th Circuit, said the Supreme Court’s decision signals a victory for same-sex couples across the state. The effect of this decision, Ken Falk said, is that Indiana’s case is over.

“Same-sex marriage is now legal in Indiana and is required to be legal by the United States Constitution,” Falk said. “There is nothing that can be done by way of an Indiana constitutional amendment or Indiana law to alter that fact. This is over, and same-sex marriage is now a reality.”

Gov. Mike Pence said his administration will abide by the federal courts’ rulings concerning marriage, though he stressed his belief in the importance of traditional marriage in a statement released Monday.

“While it is disappointing to many that the Supreme Court has chosen not to hear arguments on this important issue, under our system of government, people are free to disagree with court decisions but we are not free to disobey them,” Pence said.

The decision by the Supreme Court not to take up the cases also calls into question the proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage the Indiana General Assembly weighed this past legislative session. This year the General Assembly amended out a proposed ban on civil unions to make the proposed amendment identical to state law in defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Since the wording was changed, a separately-elected General Assembly would also need to approve the language, meaning lawmakers could have discussed it as early as 2015 before sending it out to a voter referendum in 2016.

A spokesperson for Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma said, “In light of the Supreme Court declining to review the 7^th Circuit’s decision, the speaker does not anticipate further legislative action on the marriage amendment. The courts have spoken.”

Senate President Pro Tem David Long said the decision by the Supreme Court surprised him, and that the effort “would appear to be over unless the U.S. Supreme Court reverses its decision and ultimately takes up the matter in the future to overturn the current decision by the 7^th Circuit concerning Indiana law.” Though Long called the scenario he described unlikely in a released statement.

Yet, Curt Smith, president of the Indiana Family Institute, said the effect on the proposed constitutional amendment was hard to say. Smith’s group is a staunch supporter of the proposed constitutional amendment, and he personally spoke in favor of the amendment during this past legislative session. Smith said he had hoped the Supreme Court would take up a case to establish a national standard. Along with Indiana, the court rejected to hear cases out of Virginia, Oklahoma, Utah and Wisconsin. But Smith pointed to a handful of federal circuit courts that had yet to rule on the issue. 

“We’ll just have to wait and see,” Smith said. “If no circuit court issues a ruling between now and the middle of January, it will put a question mark around the amendment we were poised for a final vote on.”

House Democratic Leader Scott Pelath said on Monday that it was time for Indiana to look to the future.

“Now opponents of equality have been told they are wrong,” Pelath said in a released statement. “Let’s hope this ends, once and for all.”