No. 14-60837IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUITCAMPAIGN FOR SOUTHERN EQUALITY; REBECCA BICKETT; ANDREA SANDERS; JOCELYN PRITCHETT; and CARLA WEBBPlaintiffs-Appelleesv.PHIL BRYANT, in his official capacity as Governor of the State of Mississippi; and JIM HOOD, in his official capacity as Mississippi Attorney GeneralDefendants-AppellantsOn Appeal from the United States District Courtfor the Southern District of Mississippi, Northern DivisionOPPOSED EMERGENCY MOTION TO STAY EFFECT OF PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION PENDING APPEAL

 Justin L. MathenyPaul E. BarnesSpecial Assistant Attorneys GeneralS

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Post Office Box 220Jackson, MS 39205Telephone: (601) 359-3680

Counsel for Appellants-Defendants

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NATURE OF EMERGENCY

 At 7:22 p.m. on November 25, 2014, the Southern District of Mississippi entered a preliminary injunction prohibiting the State of Mississippi from enforcing its traditional marriage laws, which permitonly marriages between a man and a woman, in a case styled

Campaign for Southern Equality, Rebecca Bickett, Andrea Sanders,Jocelyn Pritchett, and Carla Webb vs. Phil Bryant, in his OfficialCapacity as Governor of the State of Mississippi; Jim Hood, in hisOfficial Capacity as Mississippi Attorney General; and Barbara Dunn,in her Official Capacity as Hinds County Circuit Clerk

, Docket No. 3:14-cv-00818-CWR-LRA. At the same time, the district court denied theState’s contingent motion for stay pending the resolution of this appeal,choosing instead to enter only a 14 day temporary stay to permit theState to seek emergency relief from this Court.Pursuant to 5th Cir. Rule 27.3, in non-death penalty cases,motions seeking relief before the expiration of 14 days after filing areconsidered emergency motions and must meet the requirements of bothRule 27.3 and Fed. R. App. P. 8. The emergency arises from the factthat the temporary stay will expire on December 9, 2014. Unless this

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court enters an emergency stay, at that point, the preliminaryinjunction permitting same-sex marriage in Mississippi will go intoeffect.The State requests the Court enter a stay no later than December8, 2014, effective unless and until such time as

this

 Court rules thatMississippi’s traditional laws (and substantively identical laws inLouisiana and Texas) are prohibited by the Fourteenth Amendment.  Absent the immediate entry of an emergency stay, at the openingof business on Wednesday, December 10, 2014, Mississippi circuitclerks will be forced to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, inderogation of Mississippi’s strong public policy favoring traditionalmarriages, as reflected in state statutory and constitutional provisions. The State Defendants, Governor Phil Bryant and AttorneyGeneral Jim Hood (hereinafter “the State”), filed a contingent motionfor stay pending appeal in the district court in the event that courtentered a preliminary injunction. Last night, the district court grantedthe Plaintiff-Appellees’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction, but enteredonly a 14 day temporary stay, necessitating this request for emergencyrelief. The State promptly filed its notice of appeal in accordance with

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 Case: 14-60837 Document: 00512850678 Page: 3 Date Filed: 11/26/2014