Current Affairs

US: Federal appeals court rejects appeal attempt by county clerk against same-sex marriage

Jul 04 2014
Written by Joseph McCormick

Illustrated rainbow pride flag on a white background.

A federal appeals court has rejected an attempt by a county clerk to appeal a ruling which made same-sex marriage possible in Pennsylvania.

Same-sex marriage was legalised in Pennsylvania following a ruling by Judge John Jones on May 20.

It was cemented as law when the state’s Governor, Tom Corbett, refused to appeal, alongside the Attorney General.

A Pennsylvania judge in June rejected an attempt by Schuylkill County Orphans Court Clerk Theresa Santai-Gaffney to appeal against the ruling.

Now the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals has also rejected the request to appeal.

Santai-Gaffney now says she intends to appeal to the US Supreme Court.

In his original ruling striking down the same-sex marriage ban, Judge Jones wrote: “We are a better people than what these laws represent, and it is time to discard them into the ash heap of history.”