SALT LAKE CITY — In remarks to FOX 13, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert called a federal judge’s order that the state recognize more than 1,200 same-sex couples who married in the state an extension of the “chaos” caused by Amendment 3 being overturned.
“The challenge for us as a state is we’re getting conflicting rulings from different courts and different judges,” the governor said. “It’s the chaos we’re getting from Judge (Robert) Shelby when he didn’t stay his own decision, which is history making.”
The governor told FOX 13 he will be meeting with his legal counsel and Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes about whether the state will appeal Monday’s ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Dale Kimball. The judge ordered Utah to recognize more than 1,200 same-sex marriages performed in the state after Amendment 3 was declared unconstitutional.
Amendment 3, passed by voters in 2004, defines marriage as between a man and a woman, and does not recognize anything else. Utah is in the midst of an appeal to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.
“Clearly this will not be resolved until it goes all the way to the Supreme Court, and I think everybody on both sides of the issue should want that to happen,” Herbert said.
Speaking to FOX 13, the governor said he wasn’t sure if Utah would appeal Judge Kimball’s ruling on recognizing the marriages.
“It’s yet to be determined,” he said. “We’ll be meeting with the attorney general and our own legal counsel to take a look at whether that’s worth our time to do or not, and what the ramifications are.”
