We are about to run the table. Lawsuits filed in Montana yesterday, South Dakota today. That leaves North Dakota with no lawsuits (but see further news below), and Tennessee and Mississippi with partial lawsuits. In all three, lawsuits are being put together. We have had 13 wins in a row except for one adverse ruling in Sevcik v. Sandoval in Nevada now being appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco.
I'm posting this without the details, but I will come back with updates.
Update: The South Dakota lawsuit
The New Civil Rights Movement: Breaking – Exclusive: First Lawsuit To Strike Down South Dakota Same-Sex Marriage Ban Filed
Six same-sex couples are suing for the right to marry or to have the state recognize their legal out-of-state unions.
Last month a Rapid City, SD couple together 27-years, Nancy Robrahn and Jennie Rosenkranz, traveled to Minneapolis, MN, where Mayor Betsy Hodges married the couple. They merged their names into Rosenbrahn, and upon their return home, attempted to legally change their names but were told, “Marriage certificates for same sex couples aren’t valid in this State.”
The lawsuit cites last year’s Supreme Court DOMA decision, along with findings from the recent DeBoer v. Snyder case in Michigan, and the Prop 8 case. It also, as most marriage lawsuits recently have, cites the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution equal protection clause.
“The right to marry the unique person of one’s choice and to direct the course of one’s life in this intimate realm without undue government restriction is one of the fundamental liberty interests protected for all by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment,” the lawsuit states. “Defendants’ enforcement of the marriage bans impermissibly infringes on Plaintiffs’ choice of whom to marry and their ability to have their marriages recognized, interfering with a core, life-altering, and constitutionally protected choice.”
The six couples are represented by Joshua A. Newville of Madia Law LLC and Debra Voigt of Burd And Voigt Law Office.
Madia Law:
April 2014: Madia Law Retained to Challenge South Dakota Same-Sex Marriage Ban
Minneapolis, April 24, 2014 – This Saturday, Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges will welcome visitors Nancy Robrahn and Jennie Rosenkranz to The City of Lakes. The Mayor will then marry the South Dakota couple, setting the stage for them to return home and challenge a 2006 constitutional same-sex marriage ban.
The Rapid City couple has been together for 27 years. They have four children and six grandchildren. “We already consider ourselves married; this is a rededication of that marriage,” said Robrahn, 68.
TwoSix other couples seek to be married in South Dakota.
North Dakota
Purple Unions: Attorney in South Dakota Marriage Equality Lawsuit May Also Challenge North Dakota’s Ban
This report links to these.
Towleroad: Attorney Challenging South Dakota’s Gay Marriage Ban May Also Take On North Dakota’s Ban
AP via Argus Leader: Lawyer considering contesting N.D. gay marriage ban
A Minneapolis lawyer who will soon be challenging South Dakota's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage says he's considering taking on North Dakota's ban, as well.
Joshua Newville says he's been contacted by interested couples in North Dakota who want to challenge the state's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. North Dakotans overwhelmingly supported the constitutional amendment in 2004, passing a ballot measure with 73 percent approval.
That's an expression of interest, not a declaration of intent. Feel free to express support.
The Montana lawsuit
The New Civil Rights Movement: Breaking: Montana Gets Its First Same-Sex Marriage Lawsuit
Sen. Jon Tester D-MT:Tester comes out [sic; his words on his Senate Web page] in favor of marriage equality lawsuit
Montanans believe in the right to make a good life for their families, and denying some couples the right to marry denies them happiness and equal protection under the law. It's time our laws reflect our values.
Mississippi
Czekala-Chatham v. Melancon seeks recognition of a marriage performed in another state. Also, Marriage Equality USA reports on its lawsuits page,
In July 2013, under Campaign for Southern Equality's “We Do” campaign, same-gender couples began requesting and being denied marriage licenses all across MS, in preparation for lawsuits.
This was all we knew until March. Now the project has heated up.
Equality on Trial: Five same-sex couples apply for marriage licenses in Mississippi
That links to
Raw Story: Same-sex couples defy Mississippi law by applying for marriage licences
which links to
Jackson Free Press: Same-Sex Couples Apply For Marriage Licenses in Hinds County
This morning five same-sex couples filed for marriage licenses at the Hinds County Courthouse in Jackson. About 30 supporters arrived with the couples holding signs that read "We Do," and formed a circle of prayer before entering the courthouse and going through security.
Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, executive director of the Campaign for Southern Equality, led a prayer in the middle of the circle of supporters, asking for the couples' marriage licenses be granted by the state of Mississippi.
Tennessee
Valeria Tanco, et al. v. TN Governor William Haslam, et al. seeks recognition of out-of-state marriages.
New Gay Marriage Lawsuit is Much Bigger than Tennessee
The lawsuit challenges that this denial of rights violates the federal Constitution by denying the four couples equal protection and due process. Importantly, the suit also argues that the ban violates the constitutionally protected right to travel between, and move to, other states per the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The couples suing the state include Dr. Valeria Tanco and Dr. Sophy Jesty of Knoxville; Army Reserve Sergeant First Class Ijpe DeKoe and Thom Kostura of Memphis; Kellie Miller and Vanessa DeVillez of Greenbrier; and Matthew Mansell and Johno Espejo of Franklin.
The lawsuit is particularly interesting in that it asserts same-sex couples should, like anyone else, have the right to travel between states and as a part of ensuring that right should have their marriages recognized. Obviously, by the language shown above, Tennessee’s laws disagree. While the case doesn’t specifically take aim at wider laws (yet), it is not just Tennessee state law that is at play here.
There is a report at Marriage Equality USA that
On 7 August 2013, same-gender couples began applying for marriage licenses as the first step of an upcoming court challenge to two same-gender civil marriage bans (statutory and constitutional).
but it has no details.
Nation,
as Stephen Colbert likes to call us, have your forks ready, it's nearly done.