Two trial judges in Colorado advanced the cause of same-sex marriage on July 23, as U.S. District Judge Raymond P. Moore in Denver issued an Order in Burns v. Hickenlooper, No. 14-cv-01817-RM-KLM, finding, in accord with recent 10th Circuit precedents, that Colorado’s ban on same-sex marriage violates the 14th Amendment, and Boulder County District Judge Andrew Hartman issued an Order in State of Colorado v. Hillary Hall, No. 2014CV30833, denying the state’s motion to order … <Read More>
Legal Issues
The Obama Government Contractor Executive Order
The White House has announced that President Barack Obama will sign an executive order on July 21, 2014, amending Executive Order 11246 to add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as prohibited grounds of discrimination by government contractors. Announcements emanating from the White House suggest that the addition of these terms to the existing executive order are the only substantive changes that will be made. The non-discrimination requirements will be included in new federal contracts made … <Read More>
Stay Days in the Marriage Equality Fight
On Friday, July 18, several new “stays” were added to the mounting list of pro-marriage-equality rulings that can’t go into effect as appellate courts ponder where they stand on the issue.
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Oklahoma’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, but stayed its appeal while the Tulsa County Clerk, represented by Alliance Defending Freedom and the Tulsa County Attorney’s Office, decides whether to petition the Supreme Court for certiorari. … <Read More>
European Human Rights Court Rejects Discrimination Claim by Finnish Transgender Woman
A Grand Chamber (17 judges) of the European Court of Human Rights has rejected a claim by a transgender woman from Finland that her European Convention rights were violated when the Finnish government would not recognize her correct gender unless her wife agreed to have their marriage converted into a registered partnership. The July 16 ruling in Hamalainen v. Finland drew a strong dissenting opinion from three judges on the court.
Ms. Hamalainen, a resident … <Read More>
10th Circuit Rules on Oklahoma Marriage Case, Affirming District Court’s Decision Striking Down the Ban
The same panel of three judges that ruled last month that Utah’s same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional reiterated that ruling on July 18 in Bishop v. Smith, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 13733, holding that Oklahoma’s ban was unconstitutional for the same reason: it denies same-sex couples a fundamental right without sufficient justification. Once again, 10th Circuit Judge Carlos F. Lucero wrote for the majority of the court in Bishop v. Smith, devoting most of his … <Read More>
Key West (Florida) Trial Judge Rules for Marriage Equality
A state trial judge in Key West, Florida, has ruled that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Judge Luis M. Garcia ruled on July 17 that Monroe County Clerk Amy Heavilin must issue a marriage license to Aaron R. Huntsman and William Lee Jones, who have been a couple for eleven years, on July 22. Garcia wrote that he was giving the clerk until July 22 “in … <Read More>
Connecticut Supreme Court Rules on Pre-Marriage Equality Loss of Consortium Claim
The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled unanimously on July 16 that a woman whose same-sex partner was misdiagnosed with the wrong kind of cancer when it was too late for effective medical treatment can assert a claim for damages for loss of consortium if she can show that the women would have married had they not been prevented from doing so by state law. Although the court’s ruling involves the only such claim that has been … <Read More>
Colorado Trial Court Rules for Marriage Equality; Another Colorado Trial Court Refuses to Restrain Boulder Clerk
Adams County District Court Judge C. Scott Crabtree ruled on July 9, in Brinkman v. Long, 2014 WL 3408024, that Colorado’s ban on same-sex marriage violates the 14th Amendment. However, Judge Crabtree stayed his ruling pending appeal, and did not issue an injunction. The next day, July 10, Boulder County District Judge Andrew Hartman rejected an attempt by Attorney General John Suthers to get the court to stop Boulder County Clerk Hillary Hall from issuing … <Read More>
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Divided Over Strict Liability in Statutory Rape Cases
In Fleming v. State of Texas, 2014 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 879 (June 18, 2014), nine members of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals fractured over whether the defendant in a statutory rape case could argue in defense that he believed in good faith that his sexual partner was not underage. In common with most states, Texas has traditionally treated statutory rape as a strict liability offense: the prosecutor need only prove that the victim … <Read More>
Better Late Than Never? Alabama Appeals Court Nixes Consensual Sodomy Conviction
In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Lawrence v. Texas that state laws making it a crime for two men or two women to have consensual sex violate the 14th Amendment of the Constitution by impairing individual liberty without adequate justification. At the time there were many states, especially in the southeast, that continued to treat such conduct as a crime, and they did not rush to take these unconstitutional laws off the books. … <Read More>