Appeals court formally upholds ruling striking down Arkansas gay marriage ban

A Toledo municipal judge asked the Ohio Supreme Court’s Board of Professional Conduct if he could refuse to marry a gay couple because of his religious briefs.

“A judge’s reliance on personal beliefs as a basis for declining to perform some or all civil marriages may require disqualification from cases in which the sexual orientation of the parties is at issue”, said an Ohio Supreme Court statement.

The ruling comes after a Toledo judge refused to perform a same-sex marriage stating it went against his beliefs.

Forty days after the decision, Texas officials say they still haven’t decided whether to update birth and death certificates for same-sex couples.

The professional conduct board’s opinion was without nuance: McConnell could not cease performing all marriages based on his personal beliefs without violating the code of judicial conduct.

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the preliminary injunction that U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon issued March 2, calling section 29 of the state Constitution – Nebraska’s Defense of Marriage Amendment – an “unabashedly gender-specific infringement of the equal rights of its citizens”.

He told both sides to come back, by September 15, with updated facts (he said he needs no more legal arguments) on the actual situation across the state.

The state, in contrast, argued that the appeal should be vacated and sent back to Baker with an order to dismiss it, arguing that the Supreme Court ruling made the issue moot.

According to the syllabus of the opinion – a judge who exercises the authority to perform civil marriages may not refuse to perform same-sex marriages while continuing to perform opposite-sex marriages.

The Supreme Court of Mexico lifted a state ban on adoption by homosexual couples Monday. Actually, Mr. Copp, the decision is right because this is America, a country that is supposed to treat its citizens with equality. Cambridge, Ohio, Mayor Thomas Orr, for instance, reportedly found himself too busy after the Supreme Court’s ruling to perform weddings anymore.

However, McConnell obliged Monday and informed that he would abide by the board’s opinion on the ruling. He wanted to continue officiating “traditional marriages” before another judge took over all ceremonies.