equal protection

Kentucky's ban on same-sex marriage has been struck down by a state judge on the grounds that there is no rational basis for the prohibition, the Lexington Herald-Leader's John Cheves reports: "Judge Thomas Wingate ruled for two Lexington couples who were denied marriage licenses by the Fayette County Clerk in 2013 because Kentucky's constitution was amended by voters to define marriage as exclusively between one man and one woman."

When a Kentucky federal judge struck down Kentucky's ban, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit restored the ban on appeal. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the issue April 28.
 

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris ruled yesterday that Montana's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, the Los Angeles Times reports. He found that the state's constitutional ban on same-sex matrimony violated the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equal protection.

St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison ruled yesterday that denying same-sex couples the right to marry in Missouri denies them equal protection and due process under the law and is unconstitutional, the Post-Dispatch's Doug Moore reports. Moore struck down the ban in the state constitution because of the equal protection and due process clauses of the 14th Amendment of the federal Constitution.

The Missouri Attorney General will appeal the ruling to the Missouri Supreme Court.

SCOTUSBlog's Lyle Denniston reports on the details of the Ninth Circuit's ruling that ended bans on same-sex marriage in Idaho and Nevada and will likely control the fate of the bans in Alaska, Arizona, and Montana: "First, all three judges on the panel joined in an opinion by Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt finding that the Idaho and Nevada bans violate the constitutional guarantee of same-sex couples to be treated the same legally as opposite-sex couples.  Second, Judge Reinhardt issued a separate opinion, for himself only, saying he would also strike down those bans under the Constitution’s Due Process Clause, arguing that the right to marry is a fundamental guarantee and that gays and lesbians have a right to share in that right. Third, Circuit Judge Marsha S. Berzon, in a separate opinion only for herself, said she would have also struck down the bans on the premise that they discriminate on the basis of gender."

Florida's ban on same-sex marriage was struck down today by Florida Circuit Judge Luis M. Garcia, the Associated Press reports. Garcia characterized the issue as one of equal protection for a powerless minority: "'Whether it is ... when Nazi supremacists won the right to march in Skokie, Illinois, a predominantly Jewish neighborhood; or when a black woman wanted to marry a white man in Virginia; or when black children wanted to go to an all-white school, the Constitution guarantees and protects ALL of its citizens from government interference with those rights."

Florida's ban prohibited both same-sex marriages and domestic partnerships, the AP reports.

The Tenth Circuit ruled today that Utah's ban on same-sex marriage violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution, while a federal judge in Indiana rejected that state's ban on same-sex matrimony, USA Today reports. The 10th Circuit ruling is the first appellate ruling in the country, USA Today further reports.