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Attorney General Pam Bondi s defending her decision to delay appeals in four cases where Florida judges have ruled the states ban on gay marriages unconstitutional. Bondi wants the US Supreme Court to decide the issue, but constitutional experts say the decision is for state courts to make.

A gay couple married in New York has filed for divorce in Florida. The couple isn’t comfortable telling you their story..but attorney Rob McNeely says the case is no different than any other failed marriage. “It didn’t work out. They have both dealt with it from the emotional level and they are ready to move on. Florida won’t let them move on” says McNeely.

Four Florida judges have ruled the state’s ban on same sex marriages unconstitutional…Attorney General Pam Bondi wants to delay appeals in state courts until there is a decision from the US Supreme Court.

“What do we have happening now?” asks Bondi. “We have someone getting married in one state and they can’t get divorced in another. So, the US Supreme Court. They need to decide this case.”

But the Tallahassee couple argues the ban violates equal protection and privacy clauses in the state constitution. Their attorney says Bondi’s effort to avoid a state appeal is causing more pain for the already disgruntled spouses. “They are caught in this legal purgatory where the only way they can get a divorce, according to Florida, is to go back to New York” says lawyer McNeely.

Constitutional experts say the Attorney General is wrong. They say state courts,  not federal courts, should be deciding state constitutional law. FSU Constitutional Law Professor Mark Seidenfeld says i“If it’s under a state constitution equal protection clause, then that would be a matter of state law.”

Even if some state bans on same sex marriages are upheld, legal scholars say Florida’s unique constitution can only be interpreted by the state’s highest court.

Attorney General Pam Bondi hasn’t expressed a personal opinion on gay marriage, but says she is sworn to uphold the will of the people. Attorneys General in other states have taken the opposite tact, refusing to defend gay marriage bans.