In news that may well not matter pretty soon, the Happy Parade towards de facto national legalization of same-sex marriage hit a bump today as Justice Anthony Kennedy ordered a halt to such marriages in Idaho a day after the Ninth Circuit struck down the state’s ban and two days after the Supremes refused to review similar Circuit rulings in other parts of the country.
Kennedy is in charge of petitions from the Ninth Circuit, and it’s likely he’s just giving parties to the litigation a chance to make a case before a formal ruling by the Supreme Court acting en banc. But it’s a reminder that Supreme Court rulings–especially those made via denial of cert rather than an articulated decision–are not self-enforcing.
