November 30, 2012 looms large for the American Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community in it’s fight for equality. The nine justices of the Supreme Court will hold a closed-door conference to select which, if any, of the major LGBT cases they will hear.
The Supreme Court is not required to accept any certain number of the thousands of cases it is asked to review. In fact, during one term, there’s only enough time for the Court to hear 100 or so cases. If they do not accept a case, the decision of the lower court stands and it becomes the final ruling in the case. For instance, if the Supreme Court refuses to hear the lower court’s ruling against Prop 8, then legal same-sex marriage will return to California. The justices also have the option to postpone deciding whether to take a case holding it for consideration at a later conference.