 To the surprise of spectators, there were almost no questions from the judges during oral argument, which took place on December 4, 2006, causing speculation that the court may have taken the appeal just to reverse the Circuit Court ruling.On September 18, 2007, the court issued its decision in "Conaway v. Deane", overturning the trial court ruling for the plaintiffs in a 4–3 decision, and holding that the statutory ban on same-sex marriage did not violate the Maryland Constitution.Judge Glenn T. Harrell, Jr. wrote that because the statute equally barred both men and women from marrying partners of the same sex, it was not discriminatory on the basis of sex and thus, does not violate the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) as plaintiffs argued.