The court waded through hundreds of petitions that have accumulated during its summer break, and accepted 11 new cases.
Among the pile were petitions from Virginia, Utah, Oklahoma, Indiana and Wisconsin, where federal appeals courts have struck down state bans on same-sex marriages. Both the winners and losers in those cases have asked the court to provide an answer to the question that would apply nationally.
There is still plenty of time for the court to take up the question and rule on the issue during the new term that begins Monday and will end next June.
Those who study the court and even the lawyers making the requests have said they expect that it could be weeks or months before the justices decide whether to hear the issue, although most think it almost impossible for the court to pass up.
If the court accepts the question, it has to then decide which of the cases provides the best vehicle for a decision.
So far, all three appeals courts that have ruled on the question have struck down the bans on same-sex marriage. Usually, the Supreme Court waits for a split among those circuits before taking a case. But more than 30 states, on both sides of the issue, have asked the nation’s highest court to resolve the issue
The justices could also simply let the appeals court decisions stand, although that is considered unlikely. The Supreme Court has not allowed marriages authorized by those rulings to take place, indicating justices want to have a say in the matter.
The court met in private earlier this week to sort through cases that had stacked up this summer. Though it accepted some cases, it won’t be known until next week which of the cases it rejected and which it will reconsider later.
