Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi on
Friday asked a state appeals court not to rule on the state's ban on
gay marriage until the Supreme Court weighs in on the issue.
Bondi asked the 3rd District
Court of Appeals to put a freeze on two challenges to the ban before
the court.
“Neither this Court nor the Florida
Supreme Court can decide this issue with finality,” Bondi wrote.
“The United States Supreme Court, however, 'has the final word on
the United States Constitution.'”
“A ruling from the United States
Supreme Court would end the constitutional debate, end this appeal,
and end all related cases,” she added. “The State of Florida
will respect the United States Supreme Court's final word. In the
meantime, this Court should preserve taxpayer and judicial resources
by staying briefing until the United States Supreme Court rules.”
Defendants in three cases challenging
state bans in Utah, Oklahoma and Virginia have asked or plan to ask
the Supreme Court to step in.
Four state judges have declared
Florida's ban invalid.
Nadine Smith, CEO of LGBT rights
advocate Equality Florida, called on Bondi to stop defending the ban
in court.
“There is no certainty when or even
if the Supreme Court will take a marriage case, and while AG Bondi
delays, thousands of Florida families are denied the security and
protections that come with the freedom to marry,” Smith said. “We
agree on one thing: Bondi should stop wasting taxpayer dollars. We
call on her to take the position of nine other attorneys general who
have chosen not to defend an unjust law.”