[JURIST] The governor of Idaho and his Attorney General on Saturday separately filed [governor’s petition, attorney general’s petition, PDF] petitions to the US Supreme Court [official website] to appeal a court decision legalizing same-sex marriage [JURIST news archive] in Idaho. The petitions appeal an October decision [JURIST report] by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] that struck down same-sex marriage bans in Idaho and Nevada. In his petition, Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter [official website] states that the time has come for the nation’s top court to rule on the issue of same-sex marriage. Attorney General Lawrence Wasden [official website] in his petition argues that the states are receiving unequal treatment due to conflicting lower court decisions on the constitutional restrictions on same-sex marriage. Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights [official website], stated [Reuters report], “It is disappointing that Idaho officials continue to fight this battle, long after the great majority of Idahoans and Americans have embraced equality for same-sex couples and their children.”

Same-sex marriage continues to be one of the most polarizing topics in the US today. In December the US Supreme Court refused to delay [JURIST report] a federal judge’s order that would permit same-sex couples to marry in Florida after January 5, despite state officials’ pleas for the delay to be upheld. Also in December Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and State Solicitor Eric Murphy asked [JURIST report] the Supreme Court to uphold the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit’s decision declaring Ohio’s same-sex marriage ban constitutional. In November two federal judges struck down [JURIST report] same-sex marriage bans in Arkansas and Mississippi. Also in November the Supreme Court refused [JURIST report] a request to block same-sex marriages in South Carolina.