This week, a hearing was held in a case we discussed in a previous post. The case in question is the constitutional challenge a Plano same-sex couple has brought against Texas’ same-sex marriage ban in a federal court. Also plaintiffs in this case are a same-sex couple from Austin that got married in another state.
What did the hearing regard? It regarded a request the two same-sex couples have made for a preliminary injunction. A preliminary injunction is a court order which bans or compels a certain type of action while a case moves forward. Thus, it is a type of temporary order.
The preliminary injunction the couples are asking for, if granted, would block the enforcement of Texas’ same-sex marriage ban until a final decision is made on the two couples’ challenge to the ban. A request to require the granting of a marriage license to the Plano couple has also been made.
The judge in the injunction hearing did not make a decision on the request at the hearing, but will make it at a later date. One of the things judges look at when deciding on a preliminary injunction is the likelihood that a plaintiff’s case will succeed.
As this case deals with a very significant issue, the legality of same-sex marriage bans, it is worth keeping an eye on what happens with it at every stage. It will be very interesting to see what decision the judge makes in regards to the preliminary injunction, what the short-term impacts of this decision are and what the decision ultimately leads to.
Source: dallasvoice.com, “Federal judge issues no decision in hearing on Texas marriage ban,” Sam Sanchez, Feb. 12, 2014