Supreme Court expected to rule on Gay Marriage in D.C.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to announce an opinion Tuesday on whether to allow voters to repeal the Washington D.C. equal marriage law.

Jackson v. the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics is scheduled to be discussed at a private conference among the Justices on Friday, according to the Washington Blade.

On Oct. 12, Bishop Harry Jackson and other gay marriage opponents filed a petition with the Supreme Court asking the court to appeal a lower court ruling rejecting the argument that the city must allow voters to decide the marriage question in a ballot initiative.

If the Supreme Court rejects Jackson’s request, D.C. would continue to prevent a gay marriage measure from appearing on the ballot; if the case is accepted, it would be the first time the Supreme Court handles a same-sex marriage related issue.

There is speculation that a decision from the Supreme Court will not be released by Tuesday.

“If there’s no order that day, that’s also significant, meaning either that the justices were not able to decide in their first discussion, or that someone is writing a dissent from denial,” Arthur Spitzer, legal director of the ACLU’s D.C. office told the Washington Blade.