One day after a Sixth Circuit panel ruled to uphold state marriage bans, a federal judge in Missouri has ruled in favor of marriage equality. This is the first federal ruling for marriage equality in a state within the Eighth Circuit. The judge ruled that neither Baker nor Brunning precluded his ruling. The ruling is stayed pending appeal(s).
From Freedom To Marry:
Today, November 7, U.S. District Court Judge Ortrie D. Smith ruled in favor of the freedom to marry in a federal case from Missouri, striking down the state's marriage ban. The ruling is stayed until the judgment is final.
The decision today is in Lawson v. Kelly, a federal marriage case filed in June 2014 by the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri on behalf of same-sex couples seeking the freedom to marry. Congratulations to the ACLU and all of the plaintiffs who have fought so hard for equality in Missouri this year.
The decision follows an exciting month of momentum for marriage in Missouri. On October 3, a state judge ruled that Missouri must respect the marriages of same-sex couples legally performed in other states. And just this week, a state judge declared in a limited ruling that the city of St. Louis may not deny the freedom to marry to same-sex couples.
Missouri's AG says that he will appeal the ruling to the Eighth Circuit.