Hi all - this is not a regular blog post. As many of you may know, the US Supreme Court today denied cert. (i.e. refused to hear) in a number of same-sex marriage cases, including one involving Virginia. This means the Fourth Circuit's ruling mandating same-sex marriage in Virginia is in force, and same-sex marriage is now legal in Virginia.
This is only step one for same-sex Virginia couples, however. Step two is the actual issuance of marriage licenses. Most counties, including Fairfax, are awaiting the issuance of the "mandate" from the Fourth Circuit which officially effectuates the Fourth Circuit's ruling. That is expected to come at some point today. Many counties had prepared same-sex marriage licenses prior to the Supreme Court's stay of the Fourth Circuit ruling on August 20th, and as a result, those counties have the licenses ready to go. This means I expect the first same-sex marriage licenses in Virginia will be issued later today. Attorney General Mark Herring has stated that he has the same expectation.
Those of you in Fairfax County can follow Fairfax County's license issuance status on twitter using the handle @ffxcircuitcourt.
I will likely have a blog post about some of the legal implications of this ruling later this week.
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