[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit [official website] announced Friday that it will hear oral arguments on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage bans in Indiana and Wisconsin before a panel of three judges in August. The states requested that their arguments be heard en banc, but the court rejected the request [AP report]. Federal judges struck down Wisconsin and Indiana’s [JURIST report] same-sex marriage bans in June, but both holdings [JURIST reports] were stayed while the Seventh Circuit heard the case. The court will hear oral arguments on both states’ appeals on August 26.

Since the Supreme Court [official website] struck down [JURIST report] section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act [text] last year, many federal courts have declared state same-sex marriage bans unconstitutional. Earlier this week, the US District Court for the District of Colorado struck down Colorado’s ban on same-sex marriage [JURIST report] as unconstitutional, but he immediately stayed his ruling pending an appeal to a higher court. Last week the US Supreme Court issued a stay [order, PDF] on the recognition of same-sex marriages performed in Utah, pending final disposition of the appeal by the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit [official website]. Also last week the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld [opinion, PDF] a ruling striking down Oklahoma’s same-sex marriage ban.