Court Date Set For Same-Sex Marriage Appeal

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Three federal appeals court judges will hear arguments next month about Mississippi’s ban on same-sex marriage.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday set the Mississippi arguments for Jan. 9 in New Orleans.

That’s the same day and place that the same panel of judges will hear arguments over similar cases from the circuit’s other two states, Louisiana and Texas.

Two lesbian couples and a gay-rights group, Campaign for Southern Equality, sued Mississippi this fall over the state’s 1997 law and 2004 constitutional amendment that ban gay marriage.

U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves on Nov. 25 overturned the state’s definition of marriage as only between a man and a woman, but same-sex couples are temporarily banned from marrying in Mississippi while the state appeals Reeves’ ruling.