Pam Bondi to Appeals Court: Let U.S. Supreme Court Rule on Gay Marriage

Attorney General Pam Bondi is asking the3rd District Court of Appeals to put a hold on ruling on two gay marriage cases until the U.S. Supreme Court can make a ruling on similar cases in other states.

In a briefing filed with the court late Thursday, Bondi requested a freeze on two cases -- one in Monroe County, the other in Miami-Dade County -- where judges found Florida's 2008 ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional.

Requests have been filed in cases from Utah and Oklahoma, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on whether states can define marriage as between a man and a woman under the Constitution.

"Despite the vigorous policy and legal debates surrounding same-sex marriage, there is little disagreement about this: If the United States Supreme Court holds that states must sanction same-sex marriage, then Florida's contrary laws must fall,'' Bondi wrote. "And if the United States Supreme Court holds that states may choose, then plaintiffs' contrary legal claims must fall, and it would be up to Florida's voters to effect any change. Either way, this appeal would be over, and it would end without consuming any further taxpayer resources and without burdening Florida's judiciary."

Same-sex marriage has been making headlines in Florida in recent weeks, after a Monroe County judge ruled in July that the state's ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional. Three other judges in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties also ruled the ban is unconstitutional.