A guide to the Utah gay marriage court case: after three slapdowns, state now asking US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to please make marriage equality stop

1. Last Friday, federal district court Judge Robert Shelby issued a detailed ruling overturning both Utah’s state laws and constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Because the state did not pre-request a stay, Shelby only heard their request Monday.
2. Noting that several hundred couples had already married and that the state’s arguments were no more convincing the second time around, Shelby denied the stay.
3. The state then turned to the Tenth Circuit, which twice denied an emergency stay over the weekend on procedural grounds.
4. Tuesday, that court suggested that there is not a compelling reason to disallow same-sex marriages from continuing. This could have significant implications should this case reach the Supreme Court.
5. Maria Sang of the Salt Lake City Tribune reported that Utah will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court Justice assigned to Utah's 10th Circuit, Sonia Sotomayer, to obtain a stay. She can consider the stay herself or refer it to the full court. If she decides against the stay herself, Utah can then appeal to the full Supreme Court, which Acting Attorney General Brian Tarbet says will happen.

     Zack Ford, at ThinkProgress wrote most of the above here, which AKSARBENT butchered reformatted and slightly edited for numerical bullet-pointing.
     Ford also wrote a long, but elegantly clear piece on Judge Shelby's original decision overturning Utah's ban on same sex marriage which you should read: How A Federal Judge In Utah Adeptly Dismantled All Of The Arguments Against Marriage Equality.