July 9, 2014

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Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has denied a request to halt same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania.

The request had been filed by Schuylkill County Clerk of the Orphan Court Theresa Santai-Gaffney after the Third Circuit Court of Appeals denied her motion to intervene in the case, Whitewood v. Wolf. It reached Justice Alito in his capacity as Circuit Justice for the Third Circuit.

A federal judge struck down the state’s same-sex marriage ban back in May, and state officials quickly announced they wouldn’t appeal the decision. Same-sex couples have been getting married in Pennsylvania since then.

The clerk filed her request to intervene in the case in order to take up defense of the ban, but the district court and the appeals court declined to allow her to intervene.

She can request the stay from another Justice, but it seems unlikely to be granted.

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