A three-judge panel of the Texas Court of Appeals ruled on February 13 that Nikki Araguz, a transgender woman who is the surviving spouse of Texas firefighter Thomas Araguz, is entitled to a trial of the question whether her marriage with Thomas was valid. Thomas died without a will, and his mother and ex-wife (suing on behalf of his children) contend that the marriage was not valid and thus cannot provide the basis for an … <Read More>
Legal Issues
Virginia Marriage Equality Ruling Both a Big Deal and the New Normal
Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which denied federal recognition for same-sex marriages, was unconstitutional, a wave of litigation over marriage equality has descended on the federal (and some state) trial courts, and so far every judge who has ruled on a motion for summary judgment has concluded that bans on performing or recognizing same-sex marriages violate the 14th Amendment of the U.S. … <Read More>
Judicial Attention Shifts Back to Marriage Recognition as Federal Judge Nixes Kentucky Ban
One of the first federal court decisions to apply the Supreme Court’s June 26 DOMA ruling to the question of state marriage recognition came quickly last July, when U.S. District Judge Timothy S. Black in Ohio ordered the state to recognize a Maryland same-sex marriage for purposes of a death certificate. That court order was followed up by a detailed opinion in December in Obergefell v. Wymyslo, 2013 WL 6726688 (S.D. Ohio, Dec. 23, 2013), … <Read More>
Marriage Equality – The Race to the Supreme Court
The 9th Circuit announced that it was granting Lambda Legal’s motion to expedite scheduling oral argument in Sevcik v. Sandoval, Lambda’s challenge to Nevada’s ban on same-sex marriage. Obviously, one reason for expediting is that if the ban is unconstitutional, every day during which same-sex couples are denied the right to marry is imposing upon them irreparable injury. But another, intensely practical concern, is that marriage equality cases are now pending simultaneously in several circuits, … <Read More>
Nevada Officials Decline to Defend Their Marriage Ban in Pending 9th Circuit Appeal
In a sharp change of course, Nevada’s governor and attorney general announced on February 10 that they would not defend the state’s ban on same-sex marriage in a case pending before the San Francisco-based U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The back-story to this development is interesting and a bit complicated:
On January 21, Nevada’s Attorney General, Catherine Cortez Masto, filed the state’s brief in Sevcik v. Sandoval, a lawsuit brought by Lambda Legal on … <Read More>
Virginia Sodomy Statute: Not Dead Yet!!
Last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, based in Richmond, ruled that the Virginia sodomy statute is facially unconstitutional under the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2003 decision, Lawrence v. Texas, and granted a writ of habeas corpus vacating the criminal conviction of a Virginia man who had been prosecuted for soliciting oral sex from a teenage girl. Virginia authorities had taken the position that because the Supreme Court’s ruling in Lawrence v. … <Read More>
Idaho Supreme Court Says Co-Parent Can Adopt Partner’s Children
The five-member Idaho Supreme Court ruled unanimously on February 10 that the state’s adoption law would allow second-parent adoptions, reversing a decision by Ada County Magistrate Judge Cathleen MacGregor-Irby, who had dismissed an adoption petition on the ground that the petitioner’s California marriage to the children’s legal mother was not recognized in Idaho. The opinion for the court in “In re Doe,” 2014 Ida. LEXIS 34, by Justice Jim Jones gave a literal interpretation of … <Read More>
The Struggle for Same-Sex Marriage – A Chronology of Landmark Developments
Yesterday I conducted a faculty workshop at New York Law School on the current status of the struggle for marriage equality in the U.S. To prepare for the workshop and to provide a useful handout for the participants, I spent a few hours putting together a chronology of landmark developments, beginning with the Supreme Court’s statement in 1972 in Baker v. Nelson that a constitutional claim for same-sex marriage did not present a “substantial federal … <Read More>
9th Circuit Refuses to Reconsider “Conversion Therapy” Case, Denying En Banc Review
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, based in San Francisco, has rejected a petition for it to reconsider a decision it issued in August 2013, which had rejected a constitutional challenge to a California law that prohibits licensed mental health professionals from engaging in “sexual orientation change efforts,” sometimes called “conversion therapy,” with patients under age 18.
The petition, filed by the losing parties, asked that the three-judge panel reconsider its ruling … <Read More>
West Virginia Marriage Equality Lawsuit Mainly Survives Motion to Dismiss
U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers ruled on January 29 that three same-sex couples may pursue their lawsuit claiming that West Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage violates the federal constitution. However, expressing concern that the suit against two county clerks might not result in effective statewide relief, the court gave the plaintiffs until February 12 to either seek joinder of additional state officials if necessary to achieve that goal or to submit an argument as … <Read More>