10-07-2014, 01:09 PM
palbert Wrote:@meridiannight
I will to simplify what is a very complicated legal situation.
The country is divided into various appeals circuits, generally for ease of court operations and administration of justice, , as follows:
Each circuit court is the appellate court for the states in its circuit. The decisions of an appellate court are decisive and binding for the states in that circuit. The decisions of a circuit court have no binding impact on the decisions in another circuit: a decision may be adopted or ignored or held to be just plain wrong.
In the cases lately before the Supreme Court the three circuits all agreed on what the law was. As no circuit court has found in favor of the marriage ban there is no conflict between the circuits.
If one of the remaining circuits upholds a states marriage ban there will be a circuit conflict and the Supreme Court will most likely step in and reconcile the issue.
In brief, we are waiting to see if it is necessary for the Supreme Court to act. While highly unlikely (approaching impossibility), the Supreme Court could still decide that marriage bans are valid.
I hope other posters do not find too much fault with this summary.
Thanks for all this, PAlbert. I must say I didn't understand all of this either. It's federalism at its best, lol... (not) when a circuit court decision doesn't validate it for the whole of the USA.... but it's a step forward. Just slow... maybe slowness in matters of justice is the best way to go. ???