Tag Archives: Unconstitutional

A Third Florida County Rules Same-sex Marriage Ban Unconstitutional | #MarriageMomentum

A 3rd Florida circuit-court has ruled that the state’s same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional. Broward County Judge Dale Cohen issued the ruling, stating that the state laws barring same-sex marriage and the recognition of same-sex marriages performed out of state violate the US Constitution.

Cohen issued an immediate stay on his ruling pending a state appeal.

“Every win in court brings us closer than we’ve ever been to the freedom to marry in Florida… We look forward to the day when all loving, committed couples and their families enjoy the same protections, opportunities and responsibilities of marriage under the law. Every passing day inflicts real hardships on families who are denied the legal protection and dignity that marriage equality provides.”

Nadine Smith, CEO of Equality Florida

A Florida Keys judge ruled in favour of same-sex marriage on 17 July, along side a Miami-Dade County judge on 26 July. In late July, the 3rd District Court of Appeals refused to allow same-sex marriage licenses to be issued while state appeals are being processed.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has appealed both rulings, and is expected to appeal Broward County’s ruling.

Oklahoma Marriage Ban Unconstitutional, Rules Federal Court

Federal Court Rules Oklahoma Marriage Ban Unconstitutional

The U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that Oklahoma’s ban on marriage equality is unconstitutional, and that couples should be able to wed. This is the second time a three-judge panel has found that a state’s ban is unconstitutional. In June, the same panel came to the same conclusion around Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage.

Now marriages for same-sex couples both in Oklahoma and Utah will remain on hold. This is the 26th consecutive federal or state court ruling to come down on the side of marriage equality since the Windsor ruling in June 2013.

According to the Human Rights Campaign, the 2-1 decision was written by Judge Carlos Lucero, who was joined by President George W. Bush appointee Judge Jerome Holmes. Those jurists were the same who voted to strike down Utah’s marriage ban in the June decision.

The state of Oklahoma has the chance to request an appeal before the full bench of the Tenth Circuit. Alternately, the case could also bypass that and be appealed directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Couples Mary Bishop and Sharon Baldwin, and Gay Phillips and Susan Barton, sued the state of Oklahoma in November 2004 for enforcing an amendment to the Oklahoma constitution prohibiting the state from performing or recognizing marriages for same-sex couples.

In January, two days after Judge Terence Kern’s ruling in favor of the plaintiffs, the state filed an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals.

The Bishop case in Oklahoma was scheduled for appeal with the Utah marriage case, Kitchen v. Herbert. The appeals on both cases were heard by the same three-judge panel of the Tenth Circuit, in April.