Arkansas Supreme Court Denies Stay On Same-Sex Marriage Ruling (UPDATED)

The Arkansas Supreme Court denied a state of Arkansas request for a stay in a ruling that struck down Arkansas’ ban on same-sex marriages, but the court’s order created more confusion.

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel requested a stay from the state’s high court after Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza apparently struck down Arkansas’ ban on same-sex marriages last Friday.

The case challenges a statute passed in 1997 and a constitutional amendment to the Arkansas Constitution, approved by voters in 2004. Both exclude same-sex couples from marriage and forbid the state from recognizing same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions.

The case, Wright v. Arkansas, is one of several Arkansas cases and resembles suits in other states. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia allow for same-sex marriages, while 33 states currently prohibit the practice.

“Motion to dismiss appeal granted without prejudice; motion for emergency stay denied,” the Supreme Court said in a seven-page order.

Initial interpretation of the Supreme Court’s denial of stay suggested that counties may proceed issuing marriage licenses for same-sex couples while the court considers further legal action.

However, legal experts contacted by Talk Business & Politics say the Supreme Court ruling claims that technically Judge Piazza never issued a final order in the case and did not address the state statute that prohibits county clerks from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.  That interpretation could mean that clerks never had the final court authority to issue same-sex marriage licenses after Piazza’s decision was handed down.

The Supreme Court may have invalidated all marriage licenses issued since this weekend was the consensus of two legal experts. A third expert indicated that all scenarios are still in play, but that Judge Piazza’s final ruling — which has not been issued — could help clarify technical legal issues for the court.

A fourth legal expert suggested the high court could be buying time to build more consensus among colleagues for a decision in the case.  He noted that a stay is typically issued when there is a strong chance that a legal body may overturn a decision.  Corbin’s and Danielson’s concurrence opinions, in which they said they would have rejected the stay request, suggests that they may support upholding the Piazza decision.

Content partner KATV Ch. 7 reports that Pulaski County Clerk Larry Crane says he will not issue same-sex marriage licenses tomorrow.

McDaniel’s office issued a statement late Wednesday.

“In the past few days, county clerks have been uncertain about their responsibilities and couples unable to know definitively whether their marriages will remain valid. A stay issued by either the Supreme Court or Judge Piazza would have brought some certainty. Unfortunately, today’s decision did not do that. Instead, we will move forward handling our responsibility to defend the Constitution and appeal the judge’s decision at the appropriate time,” said McDaniel spokesman Aaron Sadler.

UPDATE:  On Thursday, Judge Piazza issued a memo to lawyers in the case he ruled on Friday (May 9) that he planned to declare all laws that banned same-sex marriage unconstitutional.

“I am notifying you of a correction of clerical errors in the May 9th, 2014 ‘Order Granting Summary Judgment In Favor of the Plaintiffs and Finding Act 144 of 1997 and Amendment 83 Unconstitutional,” Piazza wrote.

His memo said he would file the order today (May 15).