The U.S. Supreme Court is the next step for the effort by Schuylkill County Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphans' Court Theresa Santai-Gaffney pertaining to same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania.
"We will be filing with the Supreme Court," she said Thursday after learning of the latest setback by the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.
On Thursday, the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals struck down her appeal of a lower court's rejection of her bid to intervene in defense of Pennsylvania's same-sex marriage ban. Gaffney is trying to appeal U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III's May ruling that struck down the ban. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, whose administration defended the law before Jones, has declined to appeal Jones' ruling, prompting Santai-Gaffney's suit.
Jones ruled in June that Santai-Gaffney didn't have standing in the case.
"Simply stated, Santai-Gaffney's rights and duties are to comply with the current state of the law, and she may not exercise any independent judgment when issuing marriage licenses," Jones wrote in June.
Third Circuit Court Judge Patty Shwartz in an order filed Thursday said, "For essentially the reasons set forth in the Opinion of the District Court, the order denying the motion to intervene is summarily affirmed and the appeal is dismissed. Appellant's motion for stay pending appeal is dismissed as moot."
Santai-Gaffney has two weeks to decide whether to file for a rehearing.
She said she expected the most recent ruling.
"It's a chance that you take, and we are prepared to move forward," she said.
On why she is continuing to pursue the rejection of her bid to intervene, she said, "Because the fact remains, the voice of the people needs to be heard and acknowledged."
Santai-Gaffney said she wants to protect all people's rights, to "stand up for the people and for all rights."
"There's ways to change laws and let that due process take place," she said.
Legal costs for the appeals are not the responsibility of the county or the state, she said, something attorney Randy Wenger with the Independence Law Center in Harrisburg confirmed Thursday.
"It's completely pro bono," he said.
He said filing with the U.S. Supreme Court is most likely the next step.
"Our plan is to file something with the U.S. Supreme Court because we believe Theresa is a proper party and we believe that intervention is appropriate. She's an elected official charged with carrying out the marriage law. Therefore, she has a unique interest in the judicial review of this law. So, this is not the end of the road for us and it shouldn't be. The people of Pennsylvania deserve to have adequate review of this law," he said.
He did not know when the filing would occur but said he would likely be one of the lawyers who would file needed documents.
Santai-Gaffney said she would deal with "one mountain at time" when asked about what would happen if the case is not successful at the U.S. Supreme Court.
"My heart belongs to the county," Santai-Gaffney said.