U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier denied a motion by South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard to dismiss the pending marriage equality case of Rosenbrahn v. Daugaard on November 14. Although this was not a ruling on the merits of the case, Judge Schreier’s ruling suggests that she will become the second district judge within the jurisdiction of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals to rule for marriage equality. Following the lead of District Judge Ortrie … <Read More>
marriage equality
New York Court Refuses to Apply Parental Presumption for Married Same-Sex Couple
The standard rule in family law is that the legal spouse of a woman who gives birth to a child is presumed to be the child’s legal parent. Of course, the traditional statement of the rule is that when a married woman gives birth, her husband is presumed to be the child’s father. The original purpose of this doctrine was to protect the legal status of a child, who would be considered “illegitimate” if its … <Read More>
First Marriage Equality Ruling in from South Carolina
There are two federal district court challenges pending in South Carolina. The earlier-filed one, Bradacs v. Haley, sought recognition for a same-sex couple’s marriage contracted in the District of Columbia. It was filed by two local attorneys in Columbia, South Carolina. In a November 10 order in that case, District Judge J. Michelle Childs granted a motion to dismiss Governor Nikki Haley as a defendant in the case, finding that she played no direct role … <Read More>
6th Circuit Opens Up Circuit Split on Marriage Equality
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit voted 2-1 to reverse marriage equality decisions from Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee on November 6, creating a split of circuit authority that appeared calculated to provoke Supreme Court review just one month after the High Court had turned down petitions from five states in three circuits, effectively allowing marriage equality decisions to take effect in those states. The opinion for the … <Read More>
Marriage Equality: The Day After and the Sequels
The day after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review pro-marriage equality rulings by three federal courts of appeals in four cases directly affecting the marriage bans in five states, another circuit was heard from. A unanimous three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on October 7 in favor of marriage equality in cases from Nevada and Idaho. Writing for the panel, Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt, who was appointed to … <Read More>
Supreme Court Denies Review of Marriage Equality Rulings from Three Circuits
Today (October 6) the Supreme Court announced that it had denied petitions for certiorari in Bogan v. Baskin (Indiana), Walker v. Wolf (Wisconsin), Herbert v. Kitchen (Utah), McQuigg v. Bostic (Virginia), Rainey v. Bostic (Virginia), Schaefer v. Bostic (Virginia), and Smith v. Bishop (Oklahoma). In these cases the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 4th, 7th and 10th Circuits had ruled in recent months that same-sex couples have a right to marry and to have … <Read More>
Florida Federal Court Rules for Marriage Equality; 10th Circuit Stays Colorado Ruling; Virginia Clerk Petitions for Certiorari
There were several developments on the marriage equality front late last week. On August 21, U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle, of the Northern District of Florida, granted a preliminary injunction to the plaintiffs in Brenner v. Scott, 2014 WL 4113100, a consolidation of two marriage equality cases, but stayed his ruling pending the state’s appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. On the same day, two judges of the U.S. … <Read More>
Virginia’s Cert Petition in the Marriage Equality Case
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring filed a petition for certiorari in the Supreme Court on August 8 on behalf of Virginia State Registrar Janet M. Rainey, a named defendant in Bostic v. Rainey, one of the two challenges to Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit on July 28. (The other, Harris v. Rainey, was joined for decision at the requestof the plaintiffs, after the district court … <Read More>
Knocking on the Supreme Court’s Door for Marriage Equality
Yesterday, August 5, the governor and attorney general of Utah filed their petition for certiorari with the US Supreme Court, seeking review of the 10th Circuit’s decision that Utah’s same-sex marriage ban violates the 14th Amendment. Counsel for the defendant clerk in the Oklahoma marriage case has also announced that they will be filing a cert petition.
From the 4th Circuit, which ruled recently that Virginia’s marriage ban is unconstitutional, comes word that at least … <Read More>
The State of Play Now on Marriage Equality
Yesterday at Cornell University I participated on a Reunion Panel co-sponsored by the CU Gay & Lesbian Alumni Association (CUGALA) and the Law School, titled “One Year Later: U.S. Law and Politics in the Post-DOMA World.” My assigned task on the panel was to discuss how the response to U.S. v. Windsor has played out over the ensuing 11 months. My prepared text is in two parts: a chronology of events, and a discussion of … <Read More>