U.S. Court Halts Same Sex Marriages In Michigan

[From article]
U.S. District Court Judge Bernard Friedman said Friday that Michigan’s decade-old state constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman violated the U.S. Constitution’s promise of equal protection for all individuals. In doing so, he immediately required the state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples such as the pair of female nurses that had challenged the gay marriage ban.
After the ruling was released Friday evening, Michigan Atty. Gen. Bill Schuette filed an emergency request to delay it from going into effect.
But the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did not take immediate action. On Saturday afternoon, the court gave attorneys for the nurses until noon Tuesday to rebut the state’s emergency request.
Later Saturday, the appeals court issued another order, this time saying the same-sex marriage ban would remain in place at least through Wednesday “to allow a more reasoned consideration of the motion” to keep the ban in place.
The more than 300 couples who wed Saturday are unlikely to have their marriages recognized by the state, legal experts said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-gay-weddings-halted-michigan-20140322,0,5775278.story

Gay weddings halted in Michigan after 300 marriage licenses issued
By Paresh Dave
4:11 p.m. CDT, March 22, 2014