Yesterday afternoon U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin signed a temporary restraining order and permanent injunction directing Cook County Clerk David Orr to issue a marriage license to Vernita Gray and Patricia Ewert. Gray v. Orr, Case No. 1:13-cv-8449 (Nov. 25, 2013). The marriage equality bill signed into law last week by Governor Patrick Quinn does not go into effect until June 1, 2014, but that may be too late for Gray and Ewert, who … <Read More>
Lambda Legal
New Jersey Supreme Court Unanimously Rejects Stay in Marriage Ruling; Same-Sex Couples Can Marry on October 21
Refusing the Christie Administration’s request to stay Judge Mary Jacobson’s September 27 ruling that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry in New Jersey, the state’s supreme court unanimously ruled on October 18 that Jacobson’s order will go into effect on October 21. Although the court will hear oral arguments in January on the merits of the case, the opinion by Chief Justice Stuart Rabner strongly signals that the state will most likely lose … <Read More>
Iowa Appeals Court Rejects Challenge to Conviction of Gay Man for Exposing Partner to HIV
Affirming the felony conviction of an HIV-positive gay man for the crime of “criminal transmission of HIV” even though the man did not transmit HIV to his complaining sexual partner, the Iowa Court of Appeals ruled on October 2 in Rhoades v. State of Iowa, NO. 3-57212-0180, that the attorney who represented Nick Rhoades at trial did not provide ineffective legal assistance when he told Rhoades to plead guilty.
Black Hawk County District Judge David … <Read More>
New Jersey and Illinois Trial Courts Advance Pending Marriage Equality Cases in September 27 Rulings
In a big day for the campaign for marriage equality, trial judges moved the ball forward significantly in New Jersey and Illinois on September 27. Mercer County (NJ) Superior Court Judge Mary C. Jacobson granted a motion for summary judgment filed by Lambda Legal on behalf of Garden State Equality, a gay rights group, ruling that New Jersey must begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples beginning on October 21, 2013. Cook County (IL) Circuit … <Read More>
Supreme Court: Clearing Up the Cert Backlog After the DOMA and Prop 8 Decisions
Yesterday the Supreme Court decided U.S. v. Windsor, affirming the 2nd Circuit and holding that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act violates the 5th Amendment, and Hollingsworth v. Perry, holding that the initiative proponents of Proposition 8, who had been allowed to intervene in its defense at trial, lacked standing to appeal the district court’s ruling. The decisions will go into effect after the Court issues its mandate, which is normally … <Read More>
Iowa Supreme Court Rules for Lesbian Couple in Birth Certificate Dispute
The Iowa Supreme Court ruled on May 3 that a state law providing that the husband of a married woman who gives birth to a child is the presumptive father is unconstitutional to the extent that it doesn’t also provide such a presumption of parentage for married lesbian couples. Although the court rejected a lower court ruling interpreting the statute to lead to such a result, the court affirmed the lower court using its alternative … <Read More>