Louisiana State Court Strikes Down Same-Sex Marriage Ban

[Webster]

Buzzfeed: Louisiana Judge Rules Same-Sex Marriage Ban Unconstitutional, Clashing With Federal Court
Excerpt...

WASHINGTON — Less than 20 days after a federal judge found Louisiana’s ban on same-sex couples’ marriages to be constitutional, a state court judge in Lafayette Parish disagreed in a 23-page opinion that recognized the marriage of two women who married in California — and ordered officials to allow other, unmarried same-sex couples to marry in the state.

KATC news reported that Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell’s office already had initiated an appeal of the decision. One of the women’s lawyers, Paul Baier, told BuzzFeed News that he had high hopes for any appeal to the state’s Supreme Court, saying, “I think our justices have some backbones.”

In July 2013, Angela Marie Costanza and Chasity Shanelle Brewer filed a court action seeking an “intrafamily adoption” for Costanza of the child Brewer birthed and the couple, married in 2008 in California, are raising.

After some back and forth in state courts over a question about whether the state attorney general was properly notified about the case, Judge Edward Rubin heard arguments in the case earlier this month and declared on Monday that the constitutional and statutory bans on same-sex couples’ marriages in Louisiana are unconstitutional.

Clashing with the decision of U.S. District Court Judge Martin Feldman, Rubin asserted that the bans violate the equal protection and due process clauses of the U.S. Constitution, as well as the Full Faith and Credit Clause.

KLFY first reported news of the ruling Monday afternoon, but the ruling itself was not immediately available to reporters or the public because it was sealed as it involved a minor.

In a copy of the sealed ruling reviewed by BuzzFeed News on the condition that it not be posted or quoted from directly as the public version to be posted on Tuesday could have edits made to it, Rubin ordered that Costanza is able to adopt the child under the “intrafamily adoption” provision in state law because her marriage to Brewer is recognized in Louisiana. Additionally, he ordered that the head of the state’s Department of Revenue must allow the couple to file a tax return as a married couple.

Despite the lack of any plaintiffs in the case seeking to marry in Louisiana, Rubin went further, enjoining state officials from enforcing those laws insofar as they prevent same-sex couples from marrying — in order words, ordering state officials to allow same-sex couples to marry.

Although Brewer and Costanza already are married, multiple legal experts who have fought other marriage bans told BuzzFeed News on Monday night that the underlying premise of their argument against the state’s ban on recognition of their marriage is so entangled with marriage itself that it is likely that Rubin’s order as to marriage could be upheld on appeal.

Rubin spends the majority of his ruling detailing the underlying facts of the case and the arguments made by the couple and the state as to all three claims: equal protection, due process, and Full Faith and Credit.

Thoughts?

 

[Nebulous]

Good for them, welcome to 2010 Louisiana.

 

[Webster]

Good for them, welcome to 2010 Louisiana.

Now if only my home state of North Carolina would do likewise...

 

[Nebulous]

Good for them, welcome to 2010 Louisiana.

Now if only my home state of North Carolina would do likewise...

Maybe by the time you're ready to marry someone, it'll be there.

 

[Webster]

Good for them, welcome to 2010 Louisiana.

Now if only my home state of North Carolina would do likewise...

Maybe by the time you're ready to marry someone, it'll be there.

I hope so, Nebulous..I truly hope so.

 

[Dee]

Finally.

This is old news and Loo-see-annuh is just finally catching up. It'll be amazing when the rest of the nation does as well because this is just ridiculous that some states are taking forever for no good reason.

 

[WHO IS SERAFIN]

This all so silly. Anyone right now can get married to anyone they want. The only thing this is about is the free goodies the government will provide. No government freebies for anyone straight or gay. I want government out of marriage and the divide it is causing. So I am against gay government recognized marriage not because I hate gays but because I do not want to see our federal government expand any further with other peoples money. Let private businesses and churches decide who they choose to marry not government. The only thing government should be enforcing is that all couples should have the same rights like seeing your partner in a hospital.

 

[Webster]

...don't'cha you just love it when states have unlimited amounts of money to blow on appeals such as the one mentioned below while failing to care for its' citizens?

LGBTQ Nation: La. AG appeals state court ruling that struck down same-sex marriage ban
Excerpt...

NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana’s attorney general is asking the state Supreme Court to overturn a decision by a Lafayette Parish judge who declared Louisiana’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional.

Attorney General James “Buddy” Caldwell’s Office filed the appeal Friday. Caldwell asked the court to rule quickly. But that might not happen.

U.S. Supreme Court justices will discuss in a closed-door conference Monday whether to hear any or all of the appeals from Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin, where federal judges struck down bans on same-sex marriage. That meeting – the justices’ first since June – will be the first time the issue is before them.