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Virginia's ban on same-sex marriage ruled unconstitutional Virginia's ban on same-sex marriage ruled unconstitutional
(about 1 hour later)
A federal appeals court has struck down Virginia's same-sex marriage ban. A federal appeals court found Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional, upholding a lower court’s ruling and becoming the latest in a string of decisions against same-sex marriage bans.
A three-judge panel of the fourth US circuit court of appeals in Richmond ruled Monday that state constitutional and statutory provisions barring gay marriage and denying recognition of such unions performed in other states violate the US constitution. The Virginia gay marriage case is one of several that could go to the US supreme court. “We recognize that same-sex marriage makes some people deeply uncomfortable. However, inertia and apprehension are not legitimate bases for denying same-sex couples due process and equal protection of the laws,” wrote Judge Henry F Floyd of the Fourth Circuit Court, in the majority opinion.
In February, US District Judge Arenda Wright Allen ruled that Virginia's same-sex marriage ban violates equal protection and due process guarantees. Lawyers for two circuit court clerks whose duties include issuing marriage licenses appealed. The lower court’s ruling in favor of same-sex couples’ right to marry was upheld by a split vote. Judge Paul V Neimeyer dissented. “I would reverse the district court’s judgment and defer to Virginia’s political choice in defining marriage as only between one man and one woman,” he wrote.
The lawsuit was filed by two Norfolk men who were denied a marriage license and two Chesterfield County women whose marriage in California is not recognized by Virginia. Virginia is the latest in a string of court decisions striking down same-sex marriage bans, and is the second appeals court to do so. The decision could pave the way for similar decisions in other North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Maryland, all of which are in the Fourth Circuit, and which have challenges pending in trial level courts. Many see the Virginia ruling as another step toward a successful petition at the US supreme court.
More soon … Currently, same-sex marriage is legal in 19 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Associated Press. More than 70 cases are pending in the 31 states that prohibit same-sex marriage, the AP reports.
Of the 10 circuit courts of appeals in the US, five have pending same-sex marriage cases, in states such as Tennessee, Texas, Kentucky and Hawaii, according to Human Rights Campaign.
“It’s sort of a groundswell,” said Melissa Murray, a law professor at University of California Berkeley, and former Supreme Court clerk. “All of these cases together are important. Is Virginia more important than the others? Perhaps.”
Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban was first struck down on February 14 by US District Judge Arenda L. Wright, in Bostic v. Schaefer. An appeal from Virginia’s State Registrar of Vital Records, Janet Rainey, followed sooner after.
The decision is not effective immediately. According to the ruling, a mandate on effectiveness will be issued after time expires for appeals or reviews. In other words, if the state of Virginia declines to appeal, request a review or a stay, a mandate on effectiveness will be issued one week later.