same-sex marriage Archives

August 13, 2014August 20, 2019

Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals denies stay on same-sex marriage ruling

Unless the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes, gay and lesbian couples in Virginia will be able to marry on Monday after a ruling today from the Fourth Circuit court of appeals.

On July 28th, the 4th Circuit Court affirmed a lower courts ruling that Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional.

The court has now denied, by a vote of 2-1, a stay on the ruling, meaning marriage equality will begin as soon as Monday if SCOTUS doesn’t intervene.

Broward County Commissioners look to block funds for defending same-sex marriage ban

In Florida, Broward County Commissioners have not only unanimously passed a resolution in support of same-sex marriage, they are now looking for legal ways to block sending any funds to the Tallahassee that could be used to fight marriage equality:

Along with approving the resolution decision unanimously, county commissioners are also asking the county attorney to research ways to withhold funding to Tallahassee that is used in the appeals process. The county commissioners do not want to waste taxpayer money fighting gay marriage. Broward County Commissioner Stacy Ritter said, “We want to show that opposition not just by submitting a resolution, but by withholding our donor county dollars that are quite frankly right now going to Tallahassee to fund this appeal process with which we are adamantly opposed.”

After appealing the recent rulings by South Florida judges, commissioners fear that Bondi will shelf the issue until the United States Supreme Court rules again. “The United States Supreme Court, they’re going to be the body who make this decision, and then we will have uniformity throughout the country,” said Bondi.

However, some commissioners are not sure that waiting for a decision by the Supreme Court would result in simplicity. “The problem with that is there is no guarantee that the United States Supreme Court is ever going to undertake this matter,” said Kiar.

August 11, 2014August 20, 2019

Tennessee state judge rules against marriage equality

A state judge has upheld the ban on recognizing same-sex marriage in Tennessee.

From Talking Points Memo:

Circuit Court Judge Russell E. Simmons ruled that Tennessee need not recognize the union of Frederick Michael Borman and Larry Kevin Pyles-Borman, who married in August 2010 in Iowa. The judge invoked Tennessee’s state laws defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

“Tennessee’s laws further provide that if another state allows persons to marriage who are prohibited from marriage in Tennessee, then that marriage is void and unenforceable in Tennessee,” he wrote in a ruling last Tuesday, which has now been published online by Lyle Denniston of SCOTUSblog.

In that this ruling was very narrow and only pertains to recognition for the purpose of divorce, most legal experts do not expect this decision to make an impact on current appeals to the US Supreme Court regarding marriage equality.

August 8, 2014August 20, 2019

Virginia takes marriage equality appeal to US Supreme Court

Click image to enlarge

On Friday, August 8, 2014 the Commonwealth of Virginia asked the United States Supreme Court to review the federal appeals court ruling in Bostic v. Schaefer (docketed as Rainey v. Bostic) that found Virginia’s discriminatory Marriage Amendment unconstitutional.

Virginia’s Marriage Amendment has been ruled unconstitutional twice: first in a U.S. District Court and then by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Defendants’ request for Supreme Court review, known as a petition for a writ of certiorari, is only granted upon an affirmative vote of four Supreme Court Justices.

The next Supreme Court term will begin in late September, 2014. A Supreme Court Term usually runs until late June or early July. Of the approximately 8,000 cases that appear on the Court’s docket each Term, the Justices hear and decide only between 70 and 80 cases after full briefing and oral argument.

(via American Foundation for Equal Rights)

August 8, 2014August 20, 2019

Florida: Attorney General Pam Bondi asks state appeals courts to hold on same-sex marriage indefinitely

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is ducking her responsibilities by asking state appeals courts to put marriage equality appeals on hold indefinitely until the US Supreme Court rules on the issue.

“Neither this Court nor the Florida Supreme Court can decide this federal issue with finality,” Bondi wrote in a filing late Thursday to the state’s 3rd District Court of Appeal. “The United States Supreme Court, however, ‘has the final word on the United States Constitution.’”

Bondi told the appeals court she expects the U.S. Supreme Court will act soon on the gay marriage issue. She cited filings this week from the states of Utah and Oklahoma asking their gay-marriage cases be heard by the nation’s highest court.

“A ruling from the United States Supreme Court would end the constitutional debate, end this appeal, and end all related cases,” Bondi wrote. “The State of Florida will respect the United States Supreme Court’s final word. In the meantime, this Court should preserve taxpayer and judicial resources by staying briefing until the United States Supreme Court rules.”

While Utah and Oklahoma may ask SCOTUS to rule on their appeals, there is no guarantee that SCOTUS will take the cases. And even if SCOTUS does, rulings may not come for a year.

AG Bondi is content to let gay and lesbian couples in Florida wait – possibly years – for justice.

Wow – that’s leadership?

August 7, 2014August 20, 2019

Charlie Crist: Florida officials do not have to defend anti-gay marriage ban

From the Miami Herald:

Charlie Crist, Florida’s former governor and attorney general, says current Gov. Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi don’t have to defend the state’s 2008 gay marriage ban in court.

Crist, who is running to become governor again (this time as a Democrat), spoke Thursday as he accepted LGBT-rights group SAVE’s endorsement at City Hall the Restaurant in Miami.

“It’s unfortunate that Rick Scott and Pam Bondi feel this way about gay marriage and are not embracing or tolerant of it. It’s embarrassing, frankly,” Crist said. “The rest of America is moving forward and they’re still on the wrong side of history on this issue. But we can fix it and they call it an election. Only 89 days away, so help is on the way.

“What would I do differently as governor? Everything. To this issue, specifically, he shouldn’t be fighting it through the attorney general’s office. They should cease and desist on fighting gay marriage — same-sex marriage — and equality. The time has passed to do that.”

(h/t JMG)

August 6, 2014August 20, 2019

Marriage equality arguments end in 6th Circuit Court of Appeals

The big day for marriage equality in the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has ended.

Six cases from four states looking for marriage equality – Michigan, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio.

Freedom To Marry has posted the oral arguments from all of the cases. If you’ve never listened to lawyers present their cases and answer questions by the judges, it can be pretty fascinating. Plus, you might get a sense of which side the rulings will come down on. Although, law experts always make a point of saying you can’t really tell what the ruling will be based on the questions the judges ask. Sometimes, they are just playing “devil’s advocate” to see where it takes them.

Chris Geidner, legal editor for Buzzfeed, seemed to think Judge Daughtrey seemed most sympathetic to the good guys; Judge Cook, who apparently spoke the least seemed to favor the bad guys; and so it will most probably fall on Judge Sutton, who was not an easy read.

Chris Johnson of the Washington Blade wrote:

Based on their line of questioning, two judges — U.S. Circuit Judge Martha Craig Daughtry and U.S. Circuit Judge Jeffrey Sutton — seemed prepared to rule against bans on same-sex marriage. U.S. Circuit Judge Deborah Cook was relatively quiet, but appeared poised to rule in favor of the laws. Similar to other federal appeals court rulings, the panel seemed headed to make a 2-1 decision in favor of marriage equality.

Listen to the oral arguments below and see what you think:

Michigan: DeBoer v. Snyder

Tennessee:Tanco v. Haslam

Kentucky: Bourke v. Beshear and Love v. Beshear

Ohio: Obergefell v. Wymyslo and Henry v. Himes

And now, we wait. Experts say it could take several weeks to get the rulings.

August 6, 2014August 20, 2019

Target signs on to support marriage equality in 7th Circuit Court appeal

Target announced Tuesday that it has signed an amicus, or friend of the court, brief in support of marriage equality in two cases currently before the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The cases, Baskin v. Bogan, out of Indiana, and Wisconsin’s Wolf v. Walker, are both on appeal after federal district courts struck down same-sex marriage bans in those states.

Executive Vice President Jodee Kozlak explained the company’s position in this statement:

As our leadership team discussed signing on, we took time to consider the bigger questions at hand. This brief is important, as the issues it addresses have significant impact on businesses. But it is more than that and we agreed that now is the right time to more directly share our views on this issue.

It is our belief that everyone should be treated equally under the law, and that includes rights we believe individuals should have related to marriage.

Without getting into the specifics of a court case, this brief evaluates the issues created by states that both prohibit same-sex marriage and also refuse to recognize marriages that were conducted legally in other states. This position is particularly challenging for a large organization that operates nationally, such as Target. At Target, we have long offered comprehensive, competitive benefits to our LGBT team members and their families, often above what is legally required. We continue to do so today because we believe doing so is right for our team and for our business. But current laws — in places like Wisconsin and Indiana that are addressed in this brief – make it difficult to attract and retain talent. These disparate laws also create confusing and complicated benefits challenges across multiple states.

We believe that everyone – all of our team members and our guests – deserve to be treated equally. And at Target we are proud to support the LGBT community.

August 6, 2014August 20, 2019

Sixth Circuit Court to hear six marriage equality cases from four states today

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear 6 gay marriage cases whose outcome could affect the laws in Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Michigan.

The Kentucky and Michigan cases involve the right to marry, while the Ohio and Tennessee cases focus on the recognition of same-sex marriages from other states.

Check back here throughout the day for updates as the cases are presented.