Kansas asked the US Supreme Court on Monday to prevent gay marriage from going into effect in the state while it appeals a federal judge's ruling last week that its ban on same-sex nuptials violates the US Constitution.
The stay application by Kansas was directed to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who handles emergency requests from the region. She can either deny or grant the request herself or refer the matter to the court as a whole.
The application follows US District Court Judge Daniel Crabtree's ruling last Tuesday against the state's prohibition. If the Supreme Court does not act on it, a temporary stay imposed by Crabtree when he made the ruling would expire on Tuesday at 6 pm Eastern Time (2300 GMT).
The Kansas case marks the first time the gay marriage issue has come before the high court since a Cincinnati-based regional federal appeals court last week became the first in the nation to uphold gay marriage bans following a series of other rulings rejecting the prohibitions as a violation of the US Constitution's guarantee of equal protection under the law.
That decision by the 6th Circuit US Court of Appeals backing gay marriage prohibitions in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee created a split within the courts and increased the chances that the Supreme Court will rule once and for all whether states have the right to ban gay marriage.
Kansas lawyers cited the 6th Circuit ruling five times in their stay application.
Kansas has already been denied a stay request by the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals, the regional appeals court that handles cases from that state. That appeals court previously struck down gay marriage bans in Utah and Oklahoma.
The Supreme Court declined to hear the states' appeals in those cases, meaning that all the other states within that appeals court's jurisdiction - including Kansas - are bound by the ruling.
There are currently 32 states where gay marriage is legal.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}