Filings lay out arguments in Kansas gay marriage case

Wichita, Kan. (AP) — Attorney General Derek Schmidt urged the state Supreme Court on Friday not to "unnecessarily" abandon Kansas' ban on same-sex marriages until a final constitutional determination on the issue is made by the nation's highest court.

But Johnson County asked the state Supreme Court to allow it to issue same-sex marriage licenses while a separate federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Kansas ban is resolved.

The parties made their arguments Friday in filings ahead of deliberations set for Monday in a lawsuit over whether to keep in place an order barring a Johnson County judge from issuing marriage licenses to gay couples. A decision is expected to come soon after Monday's deliberations.

The state case comes against the backdrop of Wednesday's U.S. Supreme Court decision denying the request from Kansas to put on hold a federal judge's ruling that allowed same-sex couples to get marriage licenses while the state fights the issue.

Schmidt, who has vowed to uphold the state's ban on same-sex nuptials, contends in his filing that a federal judge's order allowing gay couples to marry applies only to the court officials in the two Kansas counties involved in the federal lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.

He argued that a final decision concerning the marriage rights of same-sex couples will likely be determined by the U.S. Supreme Court but that it is not necessary to wait until then before deciding that Chief Judge Kevin Moriarty of Johnson County District Court acted prematurely when he issued an order allowing gay marriages.

Kansas voters overwhelmingly approved an anti-gay marriage amendment to the state constitution in 2005.

"What is most important to the people of the State of Kansas is that the laws they voted overwhelmingly to adopt should not be abandoned unnecessarily before that day arrives," the state argued in its filing.

A mass marriage ceremony for at least 17 gay and lesbian couples is planned in Wichita on Monday, and a smattering of marriage licenses were issued to other same-sex couples across Kansas after the nation's highest court cleared the way for them. But some counties, including Johnson, have held back over confusion about where the ruling applies.

"There is no just reason to continue to deprive the rights of Kansas citizens to marry the person of their choice," Johnson County argued in its filing.

Johnson County contended that it is now the only judicial district in the state where marriage licenses cannot be issued to same-sex couples and that the state Supreme Court's temporary stay is inconsistent with directives from a federal district judge, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. It urged the Kansas Supreme Court to lift its order.

The state case involves an order by Moriarty that directed marriage licenses to be issued to same-sex couples. Moriarty had had issued that order after the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal last month to hear appeals from five other states seeking to preserve gay-marriage bans following adverse lower court rulings.

A lesbian couple received a license and wed, but Schmidt filed a petition to prevent any more licenses from being issued. The Kansas court then blocked Moriarty from issuing further licenses.

The American Civil Liberties Union shortly thereafter filed the federal lawsuit for two lesbian couples denied licenses in other counties. U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree ruled that Kansas could not enforce its gay marriage ban, and the 10th Circuit Court agreed with him.

The Kansas Supreme Court then directed parties in Schmidt's case to submit written arguments on whether it should continue blocking Moriarty's order that had allowed same-sex marriage licenses in Johnson County and whether it should wait to consider Schmidt's petition until the federal courts resolve the ACLU lawsuit.

by Roxana Hegeman, Associated Press

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The Gayly – November 15, 2014 @ 10:55am