There are just two weeks left until the U.S. Supreme Court meets to decide which marriage cases it will take up in its next session, but the marriage equality landscape could still shift significantly between now and then.
At the moment, there are seven cases from five states ready for the Justices to consider. In all seven cases, gay and lesbian plaintiffs have been unanimously victorious, with a series of strongly worded rulings from multiple courts finding that bans on same-sex marriage violate the U.S. Constitution.
But it's possible that nine more states could see progress in marriage litigation before the Supreme Court's first conference on September 29. Rulings are due in the Ninth and Sixth Circuits, which include Nevada, Ohio, Michigan and more. A ruling in any of those cases could complicate the Supreme Court's plans.
If a decision came from either the Ninth or Sixth Circuits, the Court might decide to put off a decision on which cases to take. That would be particularly likely if the decision was at odds with the previous victories for the plaintiffs. The Ninth Circuit gave hints during oral argument that its ruling would be generally similar to the victories that have come before, but the Sixth Circuit judges are harder to read.
And of course, the Supreme Court could always opt not to take any case at all.
Meanwhile, litigation continues unabated in Florida, Texas, and Louisiana, with courts so far unwilling to pause lawsuits while they wait for the Supreme Court to return from break.
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