A panel of the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on August 3 that the Supreme Court’s recent marriage equality decision, Obergefell v. Hodges, is irrelevant to an equal protection claim asserted against Cleveland, Ohio, police officers regarding the manner in which they arrested two gay men on April 8, 2011. Referring to the “law-of-the-circuit” doctrine, Circuit Judge Alice M. Batchelder relied on pre-Obergefell 6th Circuit precedents to apply the “rational basis” test and … <Read More>
Obergefell v. Hodges
Justice Stevens on the Obergefell Decision
In a speech delivered at an American Bar Association function in Chicago on July 31, 2015, retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens had this to say about the Supreme Court’s marriage equality decision, Obergefell v. Hodges, 135 S. Ct. 2584 (2015) (from the Justice’s prepared text):
“Probably the most significant opinion announced during the Term was Justice Kennedy’s explanation for holding that the Constitution protects an individual’s right to marry a person of … <Read More>
Federal Court Rules on Veterans Cemetery Burial Dispute for Married Same-Sex Couple
In light of Obergefell v. Hodges, the decision in Taylor v. Brasuell, 2015 WL 4139470 (D. Idaho, July 9, 2015), seems obvious. Taylor is a 74-year-old veteran of the U.S. Navy. She married Jean Mixner in a religious ceremony in 1995, and then the women married again in a legal civil ceremony in California in 2008. Mixner passed away in 2012 and was cremated. Taylor kept the ashes, intending that when the time … <Read More>
Supreme Court Issues Historic Marriage Equality Ruling
The Supreme Court ruled today that “same-sex couples may exercise the right to marry” and that “there is no lawful basis for a State to refuse to recognize a lawful same-sex marriage performed in another State on the ground of its same-sex character.” Writing for the Court, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, Jr., grounded these marital rights in the 14th Amendment’s guarantee that no State may deprive any person of “liberty” without due process of law … <Read More>
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>
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>