Legal observers have been predicting that the Supreme Court will rule this June in Obergefell v. Hodges that same-sex couples have a right to marry under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and to have such marriages recognized by every state, but such a ruling will not necessarily settle all the issues of parental rights of same-sex couples that continue to divide the courts. Litigation in four jurisdictions demonstrates the continuing problem of … <Read More>
same-sex marriage
Supreme Court Argument Leaves Marriage Equality Proponents Cautiously Optimistic for June 2015 Victory
My first take on today’s oral argument in the Supreme Court:
The United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Obergefell v. Hodges, No. 14-556, on April 28, considering the questions whether same-sex couples have a right to marry and to have their marriages recognized by states other than those in which they marry. The case consolidated appeals from the plaintiffs in four states – Ohio, Tennessee, Michigan and Kentucky — whose district court … <Read More>
The Alabama Supreme Court’s Marriage Inequality Antics
On March 3 the Alabama Supreme Court “pulled a fast one,” issuing a per curiam decision seeking to effectively override some federal district court opinions, ordering the probate judges throughout the state to continue enforcing Alabama’s constitutional and statutory prohibitions on same-sex marriage even though the federal district court has declared them unconstitutional, and both the 11th Circuit and the Supreme Court had denied Attorney General Luther Strange’s petition for a stay pending appeal to … <Read More>
Supreme Court Grants Four Petitions to Review 6th Circuit’s Marriage Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court announced on January 16, 2015, that it was granting four petitions to review the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in DeBoer v. Snyder, 772 F.3d 388 (Nov. 6, 2014), which had rejected the claim that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry and to have such marriages recognized by other states. The 6th Circuit’s ruling, issued on November 6 on appeals by four states from district court pro-marriage equality … <Read More>
Federal Court Orders Recognition of Michigan Same-Sex Marriages
U.S. District Court Judge Mark Goldsmith has ruled in Caspar v. Snyder that even though the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit reversed a trial court marriage equality ruling last year, more than 300 couples who married in the brief period time between that overruled decision and the 6th Circuit’s grant of a stay pending appeal are entitled to have their marriages recognized by the state. Rejecting the state’s argument that the 6th … <Read More>
Marriage Equality Developments through December 23, 2014 – Updated Chronology
A while back I posted a chronology of significant developments in the legal campaign for marriage equality since the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2013 ruling in U.S. v. Windsor.
Here is a new chronology, showing significant developments since the Supreme Court denied petitions for certiorari on October 6 in appeals from marriage equality rulings by the 4th, 7th and 10th Circuit Courts of Appeals.
Oct. 6 – U.S. Supreme Court denies certiorari in marriage equality … <Read More>
Supreme Court Sending Affirmative Message on Marriage Equality
On December 19, the Supreme Court issued an Order denying a Motion by Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi seeking an extension of a stay issued by the U.S. District Court in Florida of its ruling striking down the state’s ban on same-sex marriages. As usual, the Court issued no explanation for its decision, but it did indicate that Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia would have granted the Motion. This doesn’t necessarily signify that the … <Read More>
Surprising Development in Florida Marriage Equality Case
When U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle ruled on August 21 in Brenner v. Armstrong and Grimsley v. Armstrong that Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, he stayed his preliminary injunction until January 5, 2015, to give the state a chance to appeal to the 11th Circuit. He indicated that if the state wanted to have the decision stayed longer until the Court of Appeals could decide on the merits, it should ask the Court … <Read More>
Third Week of November 2014 Was a Busy Week on the Marriage Equality Front
Things have begun to happen so quickly that I have fallen behind in my blogging on marriage equality developments, so here is a quick summary about events during the third week of November.
Monday, November 17 – Plaintiffs in the 6th Circuit marriage equality cases from Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Michigan finished filing their petitions for certiorari with the Supreme Court. These are the first petitions for certiorari in marriage equality cases to be filed … <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>