By Richard Wolf
It took just nine days for the latest federal appeals court to rule that state bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional.
With eye-popping speed that could put two new cases in the mix for eventual Supreme Court consideration, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit declared Thursday that gay marriage bans in Indiana and Wisconsin threaten "the welfare of American children."
The unanimous decision by a three-judge panel headed by Chief Judge Richard Posner puts the fight for same-sex marriage rights back on track just one day after a federal judge in Louisiana became the first to uphold a state's ban in the wake of last year's Supreme Court rulings.