JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood has released the following statement regarding the legalization of same-sex marriage.
“The Supreme Court’s decision is not effective immediately in Mississippi.
It will become effective in Mississippi, and circuit clerks will be required to issue same-sex marriage licenses, when the 5th Circuit lifts the stay of Judge Reeves’ order.
This could come quickly or may take several days.
The 5th Circuit might also choose not to lift the stay and instead issue and order, which could take considerably longer before it becomes effective.”
Gay and lesbian couples already can marry in 36 states and the District of Columbia.
The court’s ruling on Friday means the remaining 14 states, in the South and Midwest, will have to stop enforcing their bans on same-sex marriage.
There were two questions before the court in this case.
Can same-sex couples get married?
Secondly, must the states recognize marriages from other states?
The court gives the losing side roughly three weeks to ask for reconsideration.
