National Organization for Marriage (NOM) Asks Supreme Court to Block Oregon Marriages

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM), an organization formed for the purpose of opposing same-sex marriages, filed an Application with Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, Jr., asking him to put a stop to same-sex marriages in Oregon while NOM attempts to appeal District Judge Michael McShane’s ruling in Geiger v. Kitzhaber to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Application was accepted for filing by the Court on May 28. On the 29th, Justice … <Read More>


Federal Court Enjoins Oregon from Banning or Refusing to Recognize Same-Sex Marriages

Finding that the state has no rational basis for refusing to allow same-sex couples to marry or for refusing to recognize marriages of same-sex couples performed elsewhere, U.S. District Judge Michael McShane issued a permanent injunction on May 19 barring the operation of the state’s marriage amendment and its statutory ban on same-sex marriage, and decreed that his order “be effective immediately.” Shortly after the decision was announced, same-sex couples began getting married in Oregon, … <Read More>


Federal Judge Refuses to Stay Her Tennessee Marriage Recognition Order as New Marriage Equality Drama Plays Out in Oregon

In a gutsy move, U.S. District Judge Aleta A. Trauger has rejected a request by Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam to stay her order requiring the state to recognize the out-of-state same-sex marriages of three Tennessee couples while Haslam appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. Trauger issued a short opinion explaining why on March 20.

Trauger had issued her order in Tanco v. Haslam on March 14, finding that the plaintiffs … <Read More>


Oregon to Recognize Same-Sex Marriages from Other Jurisdictions

Relying on  an opinion letter from Oregon Deputy Attorney General Mary H. Williams (dated October 16), which concluded that in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. v. Windsor and the 9th Circuit’s vacated decision in Hollingsworth v. Perry it would violate the 14th Amendment for Oregon to decline to recognize same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions, the state’s Chief Operating Officer and Director of the Department of Administrative Services, Michael Jordan, sent a memorandum … <Read More>