Back in June when the Tenth Circuit Court of appeals upheld the district court's ruling that Utah's ban on marriage equality, the state's attorney general announced his intention to skip an en banc hearing a file a petition for a writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court. Requests for cert must generally be filed within 90 days of issuance of the decision under appeal so it is a bit surprising that the state would move so quickly.
It being Utah, the state's argument is of course more than a bit disingenuous.
"...the Tenth Circuit held that there is a fundamental right to marry someone of the same sex."
Setting aside the grammatical infelicity of that statement, that is of course NOT what the Tenth Circuit held. The court didn't find a new right; it held that a law which prohibited a person from marrying the person of their choice, regardless of the gender of the persons involved, is unconstitutional just as it would be to prevent a person of one race from marrying a person of a different race.
Though to give them their due, I have to agree with this:
"It comes down to this: [either] thousands of couples are being unconstitutionally denied the right to marry or millions of voters are being disenfranchised of their vote to define marriage. Either way the Court's review is necessary and this case is the right vehicle to do so."
Based on Supreme Court rules my understanding is that opposition and amici briefs will be due on September 4 with a reply brief due on September 14. This means it will be ready to be considered at conference on October 10.