A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction of Texas' state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, the Associated Press reports.
It appears that Judge Orlando Garcia may have applied the lowest level of constitutional scrutiny, rational basis, in reaching the decison. According to the AP, Garcia opined: "'Without a rational relation to a legitimate governmental purpose, state-imposed inequality can find no refuge in our United States Constitution. These Texas laws deny plaintiffs access to the institution of marriage and its numerous rights, privileges, and responsibilities for the sole reason that Plaintiffs wish to be married to a person of the same sex.'"
That means that Garcia didn't even have to find that being LGBT is a classification that would trigger a higher, more protective standard of review.
Lawyer and Legal Journalist
