[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] decided Monday not to take on a case [order list, PDF] to review Louisiana’s ban on same-sex marriage. The ban was upheld [JURIST report] by a federal trial judge in New Orleans in September. The couples were seeking to bypass the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit [official website]. The Supreme Court denied the petition for certiorari with no comment, and the case remains under review in the federal appeals court. Several other same-sex marriage petitions remain before the court and could be acted upon as soon as this week.

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. Last week the Fifth Circuit heard oral arguments [court schedule] regarding the constitutionality of same-sex marriage bans in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi. Unlike Louisiana, federal courts in Texas and Mississippi [JURIST reports] overturned the states’ same-sex marriage bans. Also last week Miami-Dade became the first county in Florida to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples [JURIST report] after a judge lifted a stay on her July decision holding that bans on same-sex marriage violated equal protection rights. In October the court declined to hear [JURIST report] seven pending same-sex marriage cases, allowing those appeals court rulings to stand and effectively legalizing same-sex marriage in several states. The Supreme Court has yet to issue a nationwide ruling on same-sex marriage. In certain states the court’s avoidance has created confusion and legal uncertainty [JURIST op-ed]. However, the current circuit split increases the likelihood that the Court will issue a ruling in regards to same-sex marriage.