Federal Courts Formally End Unenforceable Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas Gay Marriage Equality Bans
In
each state, there has been some pushback against this past week’s
Supreme Court ruling upholding same-sex couples’ marriage rights.
[Update: The trial court in the Mississippi challenge already Wednesday night ordered the state to stop enforcing the ban, a move previously taken in Texas and taken Thursday in Louisiana.
Justin
Ables, right, and William Hensel joke with Judge Gisela D. Triana at
the Travis County Courthouse after signing a marriage certificate on
June 26, 2015 in Austin, Texas
A federal appeals court on Wednesday
afternoon directed the district courts in Louisiana, Mississippi, and
Texas to issue final orders ending enforcement of the states’ respective
bans on same-sex couples’ marriages.
In the Texas case,
in which the trial court had struck down the ban, the 5th Circuit Court
of Appeals, in an opinion by Judge Jerry E. Smith, wrote that “the
injunction appealed from is correct in light of Obergefell, the
preliminary injunction is AFFIRMED.”
In the Louisiana case,
in which the trial court had upheld the ban, the appeals court, in a
second opinion by Judge Smith, wrote that “the judgment appealed from is
REVERSED, and this matter is REMANDED for entry of judgment in favor of
the plaintiffs.” Notably, Smith added: “The district court must act
expeditiously on remand, especially in view of the declining health of
plaintiff Robert Welles,” a plaintiff in the case.
In the Mississippi case,
in which the trial court had struck down the ban and refused to issue a
stay of the ruling during the state’s appeal — leading the appeals
court to issue a stay — the court stated that “the injunction appealed
from is correct in light of Obergefell” and, therefore, “the preliminary injunction is AFFIRMED.” It also lifted its earlier stay of the district court’s ruling.
The Mississippi opinion came last, likely a result of the fact that Gov. Phil Bryantinitially had said he opposed the plaintiffs’ motion to put a quick end to the case after the June 26 Supreme Court ruling striking down marriage bans.
In all three cases, the appeals court ordered the trial courts to act on the final resolution of the cases “by July 17, 2015, and earlier if reasonably possible.”
UPDATE
U.S.
District Court Judge Carlton Reeves, overseeing the Mississippi
marriage challenge, issued his permanent injunction and final judgment
in the case, barring the state from enforcing its marriage ban.
U.S.
District Court Judge Orlando Garcia, overseeing the Texas marriage
challenge, had issued a stay of his preliminary injunction previously;
he lifted that stay on June 26.
Nothing
yet from U.S. District Court Judge Martin Feldman, who upheld
Louisiana’s marriage ban — one of only two district court judges to do
so after the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act’s ban
on federal recognition of same-sex couples’ marriages in June 2013. Jul. 1, 2015, at 10:58 p.m.
UPDATE
U.S.
District Court Judge Martin Feldman, overseeing the Louisiana marriage
challenge, issued judgment in the case — ordering that the marriage ban
is unenforceable and that his prior decision upholding the ban be
“recalled and rescinded.”
Specifically,
he ordered that “this Court’s Order and Reasons and the accompanying
Judgment dated September 3, 2014, are hereby recalled and rescinded.” Jul. 2, 2015, at 12:50 p.m.
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