Conservative states drag their heels in court rulings
While we all celebrate, and many of us, especially in New York City, look forward to a star-spangled, rainbow-festooned Pride parade on June 28, there are some states where marriage equality seems less certain—in spite of the SCOTUS ruling.
Lambda Legal has intervened, calling on three courts to act immediately to strike down bans on marriage for same-sex couples in North Dakota, Louisiana and Puerto Rico in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic ruling declaring marriage bans across the country unconstitutional. Lambda Legal is currently litigating marriage cases in those jurisdictions which have been pending during the Supreme Court’s consideration.
“The Supreme Court has spoken: Bans on marriage for same-sex couples are unconstitutional,” says Lambda Legal Senior Counsel Kenneth C. Upton. “There remains no justification for courts in North Dakota, Louisiana, Puerto Rico or, in fact, anywhere to stand in the way of love.
Courageous couples in these jurisdictions stood up for the freedom to marry, for marital respect, and for equal dignity. They should not be forced to wait any longer for the protections and security that marriage provides them and their families.”
The Supreme Court today ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that denying same-sex couples the freedom to marry violates the U.S. Constitution. Following the ruling, Lambda Legal quickly filed motions with the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota and with the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the First and Fifth Circuits asking those courts to act quickly in striking down the North Dakota, Louisiana and Puerto Rico marriage bans.
Lambda Legal represents a married lesbian couple seeking to have their marriage recognized in North Dakota; in Jorgensen v. Montplaisir, seven same-sex Louisiana couples seeking to marry or have their marriages recognized as well as Forum for Equality Louisiana, a statewide LGBT rights organization; in Robicheaux v. Caldwell, and five same-sex Puerto Rico couples also seeking to marry or have their marriages recognized as well as Puerto Rico Para Tod@s, an LGBT rights organization, in Conde-Vidal v. Rius-Armendariz.
Jorgensen v. Montplaisir is currently stayed before the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota, Conde-Vidal v. Rius-Armendariz is on appeal before the First Circuit, and Robicheaux v. Caldwell is on appeal before the Fifth Circuit, together with cases out of Mississippi and Texas. The Fifth Circuit heard oral arguments in Robicheaux and the Texas and Mississippi cases earlier this year, but has not yet issued a ruling.
“The law of the land is now clear,” Lambda Legal Staff Attorney Kyle Palazzolo said. “If these courts were awaiting direction from the Supreme Court, well now they have it. There is no reason for the courts not to act immediately to strike down these remaining bans and end this discrimination once and for all.”