Last week, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Utah could not ban same-sex marriage. We asked our “Political Insiders” and readers what they thought the next step in the battle would be?
All three groups said Utah would appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, but ultimately lose. More than 2/3 of Democrats, 57% of Republicans and 59% of our readers said Utah’s challenge would fall before the high court.
About 1/3 (32%) of Republicans said the state would appeal the decision to the Supreme Court and ultimately win. Just 3% of Democrats and 12% of our readers thought that would happen.Â
30% of Democrats, 11% of Republicans and 27% of our readers thought the Supreme Court would refuse to hear Utah’s appeal, leaving the 10th Circuit’s decision to stand.
None of our Republican or Democratic insiders felt Utah would drop their appeals allowing the 10th Circuit Court ruling to stand.
Selected anonymous comments:
“Utah officials have the obligation to appeal in order to keep their oath of office and to maintain the integrity of their constitutional oaths. LGBT activists may feel it is a waste of money, but here in Utah, we don’t pick and choose which laws to enforce… this isn’t the border.”“Sean Reyes says he will appeal all the way because it’s his job to defend state law no matter what his personal opinion is. Which is why he is appealing the ruling against Utah’s immigration law. Right? Right?”
“Utah will continue to spend money on a losing cause, not unlike the attempt to take back our federal lands.
“Unless there are some serious legal conflicts between lower court rulings, I don’t see the Supreme Court weighing in on this one. The lower court rulings will stand.”
“They should let it stand but they can’t resist eating tax dollars, to proudly say we were on the wrong side of history”
“Both Sean Reyes and the governor know they can’t win. I can only hope that neither of them is around for another term.”
“Unfortunately, this case was decided years ago when the classification of homosexuality was changed from a mental “disorder” to an innate characteristic. Once it did that, homosexuality was given the same status as skin color. Now it’s just a matter of time for the courts to legally recognize that status.”
“We all know how this will end.”
“The writing is on the wall on this particular issue. Utah should appeal the decision, but I don’t see the Supreme Court reversing the ruling.”
“Only an idiot thinks that Utah will win.”
“Orrin is right – the writing is on the wall. Since the Supreme Court decided DOMA, not a single court has upheld that marriage is limited to opposite-sex couples. If the good people of Utah had enough sense in 2004 to create a civil union that was a legal equivalent to marriage, we might have found some common ground. Instead of continuing to fight this losing battle, Utah’s limited tax dollars would be more prudently spent trying to figure out the handle the growing reality that same sex marriage will soon be the law of the land.”
“Definitely going to the Supreme Court, definitely going to rule in favor of marriage equality, might be very ironic that Utah brings marriage equality to the nation as a whole.”
“We will spend another million on the appeal. What a waste of money. Over the last several years this state has spent nearly $20 million on silly, stupid and/or symbolic lawsuits. The lawyers receiving the fees may be happy, but as a citizen I am outraged.”
“The ball is rolling down the hill and it will be almost impossible to stop.”
