If you’ll remember, Bishop Harry Jackson, who doesn’t seem to really live in the District of Columbia, has his panties in a wad because the DC City Council won’t allow a popular referendum on their equal marriage law, arguing that it violates the District’s Human Rights Act. The appeals court agreed. Now it’s up to the Supreme Court to decide whether the case is even worth hearing:
According to the court’s public docket, the nine justices scheduled a private conference among themselves for Friday to discuss the case known as Jackson v. the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics. Under longstanding court rules, the justices usually announce a decision on whether to accept or reject a case on the Monday following such a conference.
“Generally, if a case is considered at a conference, viewers can expect that the disposition of a case will be announced on an Orders List that will be released at 10 a.m. the following Monday,” the court’s website says.
[…]
Bishop Harry Jackson, pastor of a Beltsville, Md., Christian church, and other same-sex marriage opponents filed a petition with the Supreme Court Oct. 12 asking the court to consider hearing the case in a process known as a petition for a Writ of Certiorari. The case consists of their appeal of a lower court ruling that rejected their contention that the city must allow voters to decide the marriage question in a ballot initiative.
The D.C. Court of Appeals upheld the Board of Elections and Ethics’ decision to bar Jackson and his supporters from organizing a ballot initiative on grounds that, if approved, the initiative would violate the city’s Human Rights Act. The Human Rights Act bans discrimination based on sexual orientation.
If the SCOTUS rejects the case, the lower court’s ruling will stand and Harry Jackson will probably start crying, but he will live through the ordeal.
