Despite a major setback at the U.S.
Supreme Court, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is
pressing ahead in its fight to overturn a federal judge's order
making Oregon the 18th state to allow gay and lesbian
couples to marry.
On May 19, U.S. District Judge Michael
McShane struck down the state's ban and Oregon officials, who sided
with plaintiffs, immediately implemented his order.
On Wednesday, the group asked the full
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to reconsider a
3-judge panel's decision rejecting the group's attempt to intervene
in the case.
NOM has faced a string of losses in the
case. McShane denied NOM's last minute request to intervene in the
case, the Ninth Circuit denied NOM's request to stay proceedings in
the case or stay the ruling and the U.S. Supreme Court denied the
group's request to set aside the ruling as it seeks to intervene in
the case.
“[R]ehearing en banc is
warranted … because the issues presented by this case are of
'exceptional importance,'” NOM
said in its latest filing. “Indeed, the constitutional issue
addressed in the underlying judgment is arguably the most contentious
issue to have been addressed by the courts in forty years. The
supposed jurisdictional barriers are also of exceptional importance,
for they are already providing an incentive for 'friendly' suits that
is threatening the very adversarial nature of our system of justice.”
On Monday, a Ninth Circuit panel heard
arguments in three cases challenging similar bans in Hawaii, Nevada
and Idaho. A ruling in favor of the plaintiffs could make NOM's case
moot.
(Related: Ninth
Circuit panel “skeptical” of arguments in favor of state bans on
gay marriage.)