A few minutes ago, Attorney General Holder announced that Utah same-sex marriages “will be recognized as lawful and considered eligible for all relevant federal benefits on the same terms as other same-sex marriages.” This is even though “the governor has announced that the state will not recognize these marriages pending additional Court action.” This may […]
Archive | Same-Sex Marriage
NYU Journal of Law and Liberty’s Supreme Court Review-Preview
The newest issue of the NYU Journal of Law and Liberty is available online. It contains their special Supreme Court Review-Preview, which in turn contains my short article, Interstate Recognition of Same-Sex Marriage after Windsor, which I’ve mentioned here before. It begins: Last June, the headlines said that the Supreme Court’s decision in United States […]
SCOTUS Stays Same-Sex Marriage in Utah
This morning the Supreme Court granted Utah’s application for a stay of the district court’s injunction requiring state officials to recognize same-sex marriage within the state. The stay application was initially submitted to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who referred it to the entire court. As Lyle Denniston observes, there is no indication that any member of […]
Same-Sex Marriage Heads Back to Supreme Court
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit’s refusal to stay a district court decision invalidating Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage is sending the issue back to the Supreme Court less than six months after last summer’s the Windsor and Perry decisions. Adam Liptak reports: The question for the Supreme Court in the short term will be whether […]
The Limited(?) Nature of the Ohio Same-Sex Marriage Decision
Like Jonathan (posting directly below) I saw a lot of early reports suggesting that Judge Black, in the Southern District of Ohio, had invalidated Ohio’s ban on same-sex marriage. But Chris Geidner has a link to the actual decision, and as a technical matter it is slightly more limited: it invalidates Ohio’s ban as applied […]
Same-Sex Marriage (Ex Post) Upheld in Indiana
One interesting issue I encountered in my various research projects on marriage is how transgender individuals interact with the law of same-sex marriage. For example, if a couple is originally married as a man and a woman, and one of the parties later changes their legal sex, does that invalidate the marriage (if the state […]
New Mexico Supreme Court Strikes Down State Law Limiting Marriage to Opposite-Sex Couples
By Ilya Somin on December 19, 2013 8:17 pm in Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Same-Sex Marriage, Sex Discrimination
In today’s decision in Griego v. Oliver, the New Mexico Supreme Court struck down state laws that limit marriage to opposite sex couples. I welcome the result, but would have preferred that the court based its decision on the ground that laws banning same-sex marriage discriminate on the basis of gender. The court ruled that […]
Why the Utah Law Criminalizing Polygamy Is Unconstitutional
By Eugene Volokh on December 16, 2013 12:35 pm in Freedom of Speech, Religious Freedom, Same-Sex Marriage
I’m no fan of the Utah federal court’s opinion striking down the Utah law criminalizing polygamy. But I do think that the law, at least as currently interpreted by Utah officials, is indeed unconstitutional. Here’s a brief sketch of my thinking. 1. The relevant statute states, A person is guilty of bigamy when, knowing he […]
Watch the Final Debate on Same-Sex Marriage in Hawaii
The live feed is here.
Response From Religious-Liberty Scholars Supporting a “Marriage Conscience” Exemption
By Dale Carpenter on November 7, 2013 12:40 pm in Religion and the Law, Religious Freedom, Same-Sex Marriage, Sexual Orientation
Last week I wrote about the response of a group of us (Andy Koppelman, Doug NeJaime, Ira Lupu, William Marshall, and me) to calls for broad religious-liberty exemptions in laws authorizing same-sex marriage. Specifically in the context of the proposed marriage bill in Illinois, which has since passed, we argued that the proposals from several religious-liberty scholars urged for several years […]
Illinois House Debating Same-Sex Marriage Now
You can watch it live here. The state senate has already passed the bill. If the state house passes it, the bill would be signed by the governor.
Religious Liberty and SSM: A Response to Concerns in Illinois
By Dale Carpenter on October 30, 2013 2:14 pm in Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Religion and the Law, Religious Freedom, Same-Sex Marriage, Sexual Orientation
The Illinois legislature is considering a bill that would extend marriage to same-sex couples. In response, a group of religious-liberty scholars have urged the governor and legislative leaders to include what they call a “marriage conscience protection” that would significantly expand the scope of religious exemptions already provided in the bill, and would insert additional substantive exemptions that would […]
Missouri Marital Benefits Decision (and the Conceptual Question of Subset/Superset Discrimination)
Today, the Missouri Supreme Court decided Glossip v. Missouri D.O.T., a case brought by a man seeking survivor’s benefits from the death of his same-sex partner, a Missouri patrolman. Missouri does not let same-sex couples marry, nor recognize same-sex marriages from elsewhere. But Missouri law provides survivor’s benefits only to married couples. So Glossip argued […]
Same-sex Marriage in Oklahoma (under Tribal Law)
This story has an interesting wrinkle in the question of which marriages count for purposes of federal law. Two men were married by the Cheyenne & Arapaho tribes in Oklahoma. The marriage is apparently permitted by tribal law even though Oklahoma law would not permit it. (Thanks to Chad Flanders for the link.) The news […]
Same-Sex Marriage in New Jersey (For Keeps)
On Friday the New Jersey Supreme Court denied a stay in the same-sex marriage litigation, allowing marriages to begin today. Today, Governor Christie announced that he’s withdrawing the state’s appeal. That seals the deal. I guess I won’t be finishing that essay I was writing about New Jersey’s civil unions. I’ve seen some criticism from […]