Employment & Labor Insider

You may recall that in early October the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review decisions from U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fourth, Seventh, and Tenth circuits* that struck down same-sex marriage bans.

At that time, every federal appellate court facing the issue -- in addition to these three, the Ninth Circuit -- had found that same-sex marriage bans were unconstitutional.

Until yesterday.

Yesterday, two judges on a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld bans on same-sex marriage in DeBoer v. Snyder. The Sixth Circuit hears appeals from federal courts in the states of Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee.

I am hoping we'll hear from my friend Jon Hyman over at the Ohio Employer's Law Blog on this new decision. Meanwhile, there is an excellent summary of the decision and its implications on the SCOTUS blog, and also good discussion on The Volokh Conspiracy here and here.

A split in the circuits is one of the reasons that the Supreme Court will agree to review a case, so it's possible that the split created by the Sixth Circuit decision will get us a review and some clarity and finality.

*The federal circuits and their states:

The Fourth Circuit hears appeals from federal courts in Maryland, the Carolinas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The Seventh Circuit hears appeals from federal courts in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.

The Ninth Circuit hears appeals from federal courts in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington state, and Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

The Tenth Circuit hears appeals from federal courts in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming.