Idaho Governor Butch Otter, a
Republican, on Wednesday turned to an appeals court after a federal
judge denied his request to stay an order striking down the state's
ban on gay marriage.
In a 57-page ruling handed down
Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Candy W. Dale declared Idaho's 2006
voter-approved constitutional amendment limiting marriage to
heterosexual couples unconstitutional.
The ruling, which came less than 4 days
after a judged declared invalid Arkansas' ban, is scheduled to take
effect 9 AM Friday.
Otter, a named defendant in the case,
Latta v. Otter, filed a motion Monday requesting an immediate
stay to the order, in the event the state lost the case.
Dale denied the request on Wednesday,
and Otter turned to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San
Francisco, the same court which struck down a similar ban in
California.
In filing an emergency motion for a
stay with the appeals court, Otter
argued that “absent the stay … there will be a repetition in
Idaho of the unseemly chaos, confusion, conflict, uncertainty, and
spawn of further litigation and administrative actions seen in Utah
and, to a lesser extent, in Michigan.”