Same-sex marriage was not on the U.S. Supreme Court's list of orders when it was released at about 9:30 a.m. That means we'll have to wait until Friday to find out if the high court will review the case concerning Prop 8, California's voter-approved ban on gay marriage.
An appeals court previously upheld a lower court's ruling that invalidated Proposition 8. That is one of two laws involving same-sex marriage that the high court may review next spring. The court is also weighing overturning the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, a federal law that defines marriage as the legal union of one man and one woman for the purposes of legal recognition and receipt of benefits, such as the ability to file a joint tax return.
The Supreme Court will announce whether or not it will review the cases in a list of orders. "The vast majority of cases filed in the Supreme Court are disposed of summarily by unsigned orders," the Supreme Court website states. "Such an order will, for example, deny a petition... without comment. Regularly scheduled lists of orders are issued on each Monday that the Court sits, but 'miscellaneous' orders may be issued in individual cases at any time."
The next announcement of miscellaneous orders is expected Friday, when the Supreme Court also will hold its final conference of 2012 to discuss petitions from those asking the high court to review cases. SCOTUSblog, a Bloomberg Law-sponsored blog covering the court, tweeted that the court "is almost sure to act on same-sex marriage late this Friday afternoon so it can hear arguments this March."
Want to learn more about the case while you wait for the announcement? Here are some resources you may want to check out.