Attorney General Mark R. Herring issued the following statement regarding the Supreme Court’s decision to hear four marriage equality cases from the Sixth Circuit, the only circuit to rule against marriage equality since the landmark Windsor case. The decision to hear the cases does not affect marriage equality in Virginia: “Last year, brave Virginia couples led the way in federal court, bringing marriage equality to the Commonwealth and the other states of the Fourth Circuit. Now, the Supreme Court will settle the issue for the nation. Given the near unanimous string of rulings recognizing the constitutional right to marry, and the Supreme Court’s decision to let all those rulings stand, including in Virginia, I am optimistic that marriage equality will soon be the law of the land.”
