The U.S. Supreme Court decided not to act on gay marriage in its most recent conference, issuing orders on a number of other cases instead.

The court may act on gay marriage during its next private conference on Jan. 16. They had been scheduled to determine today if they would rule on the issue during this particular nine-month term, which will end in June, according to a Bloomberg report.

On Monday, the court will issue a longer list of orders at 9:30 a.m. EST, and could act on the issue then.

Currently, gay marriage has been legalized in 36 states, including the District of Columbia.

Meanwhile, a U.S. federal appeals court Friday was receptive to arguments for eliminating same-sex marriage bans in southern states like Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, as two of the three judges on a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel openly expressed their skepticism of the bans, according to Reuters.

One judge noted that there had been a “sea change” on opinions of gay rights, and questioned why, if procreation was the goal of allowing marriage, it allowed sterile couples to marry but not gay couples.

The judge, Patrick Higginbotham, even referenced Mississippi’s notoriously racist past” The words ‘will Mississippi change its mind?’ have resonated in these halls before,” he said.

Another judge, James Graves, who was appointed by President Obama, said he was uncomfortable with the bans and asked attorneys some difficult questions on them. The other judge, Jerry Smith, said even though the bans may harm over the people, there is precedent for upholding them.

So far, four federal appeals courts have struck down gay marriage bans after a June 2013 Supreme Court decision created expanded federal recognition of same-sex marriage.

However, splits among appeals courts mean the case is all the more likely to force the Supreme Court to act during the current term.