Florida's AG Pam Bondi has already appealed the Monroe County (the Keys) marriage equality case to the State Appeals Court for the Third District. And, now the plaintiffs in the case are requesting that appeals court to allow the case to pass through and be heard next at the Florida Supreme Court. On June 17, Judge Garcia ruled that Florida's ban on marriages of same-sex couples was unconstitutional (in this case)
From the Miami Herald:
Lawyers for two Monroe County men who won the right to marry asked an appeals court Monday to move the case directly to Florida's Supreme Court.
“The constitutionality of Florida's laws barring same-sex couples from marriage is an issue of great public importance that has a great effect on the proper administration of justice throughout the state,” lawyers Bernadette Restivo and Elena Vigil-Fariñas, who represent Key West bartenders Aaron Huntsman and William Lee Jones, wrote to the Miami-based Third District Court of Appeal. “There is a need to bring finality to this issue on a statewide basis so that clerks of court throughout the state have uniform guidance as to whether they must issue marriage licenses on an equal basis to otherwise qualified same-sex couples.”
According to the attorneys, “a decision from the Supreme Court would also provide uniform direction and guidance to government, public and private entities throughout the state, including the judiciary, which make decisions on a daily basis with regard to the provision of benefits or rights to persons based in whole or in part on their marital status.”
The lawyers describe the case as “an issue of great public importance that directly and profoundly affects same-sex couples throughout the state, as well as their children and other family members, by excluding them from a right the Supreme Court has declared to be ‘of fundamental importance for all individuals.’”
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, whose office has appealed the men’s legal victory, has not commented on Monday’s motion.
“We’re filing in the court of appeal, a motion, in layman’s terms, to pass through the jurisdiction of the third District Court of Appeal and to send the case directly to the Florida Supreme Court,” Restivo told the Miami Herald. “It’s going to certainly bring this case quicker to finality. It’s going to apply this case, one way or another, to the entire state of Florida, once the Supreme Court rules on it.”
It is likely that whatever decision is made with regard to this request, the Monroe County and Miami-Dade County cases will probably be combined to resolve the issues in both cases. Last week, Miami-Dade County Judge Zabel also ruled that Florida's ban on marriages of same-sex couples is unconstitutional.
You can read the request here.