The 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a published opinion today, detailing its legal reasoning for lifting a stay and putting into effect its order legalizing same-sex marriage in Idaho. “We decline to deny the plaintiffs their constitutional rights any longer,” the unanimous three-judge panel of the court wrote in the nine-page opinion. They also went through the arguments Gov. Butch Otter offered in earlier legal filings opposing the lifting of the stay, and rejected all of them. “Governor Otter can no longer meet the test for the grant or continuation of a stay,” the court wrote.

It also noted that the full U.S. Supreme Court also ruled against Otter’s bid for a continued stay to prevent same-sex marriages from starting in Idaho. “Because the Supreme Court has thus rejected the argument that a stay was necessary … we decline to second-guess that decision,” the court wrote.  It noted that same-sex marriage is now legal 33 states plus the District of Columbia. “This figure includes Idaho and Alaska,” the court wrote.

The 9^th Circuit judges also wrote that they nevertheless granted the state an additional opportunity to file an emergency stay request with the Supreme Court by making the lifting of the stay effective today, rather than yesterday, “even though we see no possible basis for a stay.” No additional stay was sought.

Todd Dvorak, spokesman for Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, said, “We’ll analyze it and use that as part of our decision-making process going forward.”

Deborah Ferguson, attorney for the four couples who successfully sued to overturn Idaho’s ban on gay marriage, said, “It makes public their reasoning for lifting the stay, and so that’s, I think, very helpful. I’m very glad they did that.” She noted that as a published opinion, the court’s opinion now can be cited in other cases. You can read it here.