This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A federal appeals court Wednesday closed the book on Utah's battle over whether married same-sex couples are entitled to spousal benefits, including the right to adopt children.
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the case — a day after the state asked them to do just that and two days after Gov. Gary Herbert and Attorney General Sean Reyes ordered state offices to recognize all same-sex marriages.
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively legalized gay and lesbian unions in the Beehive State and 10 others in one fell swoop.
Utah has since been withdrawing from legal battles that have raged for months.
"There is no longer any need for clarification about what the status of these marriages is," Utah Solicitor General Bridget Romano told The Salt Lake Tribune on Tuesday. "We're going to go ahead and comply with the law."
The attorney general's office asked the Utah Supreme Court to lift its hold on four pending adoptions of children to same-sex parents, which had been contested by the state on the premise that officials did not know whether they could grant adoptions to married same-sex couples while those marriages were in so-called legal limbo.
These adoptions will proceed once the Utah Supreme Court removes a stay put in place in May.
It was not immediately clear when the Utah Supreme Court might act, but court spokeswoman Nancy Volmer said Tuesday that the justices had received the state's motion and would act "as soon as they can."
Four same-sex couples who were married in the 17 days when such unions were legal following U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby's historic Dec. 20 ruling had filed for second-parent adoptions in order to obtain legal recognition of their families. The adoptions were granted by lower court judges, but when the couples sought amended birth certificates from the Department of Vital Records, they were denied.
"Because the underlying issue of the recognition of the adoptive parents' marriages is settled, and the injunction striking down Utah's constitutional amendment and other laws prohibiting same-sex marriage is now final, the [Department of Vital Records] no longer requires clarification of the law and will issue amended birth certificates," the attorney general's office wrote.
Monday's decision from the U.S. Supreme Court let stand several circuit court rulings that declared bans on same-sex marriages unconstitutional.
In a motion filed with the 10th Circuit Court on Tuesday, Utah acknowledged that married same-sex couples are entitled to the same rights and benefits as their opposite-sex counterparts.
"With [the 10th Circuit's] mandate in effect, Utah is constitutionally required to recognize the marriages of the same-sex couples who were plaintiffs in this action," according to a motion filed by the attorney general's office. "Therefore, the state of Utah's appeal of the district court's order ... is moot."
The state had long insisted that this lawsuit would be resolved with a ruling in the famed Kitchen v. Herbert case.
The Kitchen case was the first in the nation to prompt a federal judge to declare a state ban on same-sex unions unconstitutional. It was resolved Monday when the Supreme Court refused to grant it certiorari and hear arguments, thereby letting stand a ruling from the 10th Circuit Court that found "the Fourteenth Amendment protects the fundamental right to marry."
In dismissing the case on Wednesday, the 10th Circuit also declared there was no reason to send the case back to U.S. District Court Judge Dale A. Kimball to determine whether Utah would be responsible for the plaintiffs' lawyers fees.
The case was officially closed about 2:20 p.m. Wednesday.
Twitter: @Marissa_Jae