Following a monthlong holiday break, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday added no new cases to the term's argument docket and continued the suspense as to whether it will take up the constitutional question of same-sex marriages.

The justices did deny review in one of five marriage-equality cases pending before them: Robicheaux v. George, in which a Louisiana federal district judge upheld that state's ban on same-sex marriages. The plaintiffs, represented by Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, sought review before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit could rule in their appeal. The state also had urged the high court to take the case.

A three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit heard arguments in the Louisiana appeal, as well as appeals from Texas and Mississippi, on Jan. 9. Some high court experts had predicted a quick denial of review in the Louisiana case because the justices would not want to interfere with the appellate court's review.