Marriage Appeals Hearings: Judges and Dates Set
by Brig Bagley
1 April 2014
1 April 2014
Judges Lucero, Holmes, and Kelly (left to right pictured above) were randomly selected to sit on the cases for Utah and Oklahoma in regards to same-sex marriage bans in the respective states. The states agreed to have separate, but parallel hearings. Utah will be April 10, and Oklahoma April 17.
Lucero would probably be considered the most liberal of the three (appointed by Clinton 1995), while Kelly the most conservative (appointed by G. H. W. Bush 1992). Holmes is somewhere in the middle (appointed by G. W. Bush 2006). Lucero has hired several gay clerks and is thought to be supportive of equality. Holmes is considered to be open-minded--he did vote against the Amendment 3 stay back in December, which eventually forwarded the request to the US Supreme Court. Kelly is known to support Hobby Lobby's case to refuse certain birth control healthcare to women.
The panel appears to be on the conservative side, yet still well-balanced. Lucero and Holmes have both explicitly stated that personal opinions are inappropriate for court cases and will rule without respect to their own opinions on the matter. Kelly, the eldest and longest serving federal judge, is arguably the largest question mark concerning how he will rule.
Even if the outcome is still unknown, the momentum of equal rights for LGBT folks is unlikely to change direction in these cases. Hopefully by the end of this month, we will have the rulings to move on to the next step: the US Supreme Court.
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