[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit [official website] on Wednesday put all pending same-sex marriage appeals on hold until the US Supreme Court rules on the issue. The court issued similar orders on pending appeals from Alabama and Florida [orders, PDF]. The Eleventh Circuit has refused to delay same-sex marriages in both states [JURIST reports].

The debate over the legalization of same-sex marriage [JURIST backgrounder] is one of the most contentious legal issues [JURIST op-ed] in the US today. The Supreme Court agreed last month to rule [JURIST report] on same-sex marriage, granting certiorari [order list, PDF] in four cases. The court consolidated appeals from Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee after the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld bans [JURIST report] in those states. The court granted one hour and 90 minutes for oral arguments, which will likely be held in April with a decision expected in June. The four consolidated cases are Obergefell v. Hodges, Tanco v. Haslam, DeBoer v. Snyder and Bourke v. Beshear [dockets].