In a lengthy ruling handed down this afternoon, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has determined that marriage equality bans in Idaho and Nevada are unconstitutional.
The ruling, written by Judge Stephen Reinhardt applied heightened scrutiny to the case. All three judges on the panel agreed on the decision.
We hold that the Idaho and Nevada laws at issue violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because they deny lesbians and gays who wish to marry persons of the same sex a right they afford to individuals who wish to marry persons of the opposite sex, and do not satisfy the heightened scrutiny standard we adopted in SmithKline.
No word yet on when marriages may begin in the two states. What a week this has been for justice and equality and it's only Tuesday. Congratulations to the fine people of Idaho and Nevada. May the momentum continue.
Via Joe.My.God