CINCINNATI (AP) — A federal appeals court will hear
arguments in gay marriage fights in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and
Tennessee in a single session, setting the stage for historic rulings in
each state.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in
Cincinnati, scheduled arguments in five cases from the four states for
Aug. 6. Though the cases are unique, each deals with whether statewide
gay marriage bans violate the Constitution.
"I think the way the
court’s approaching it is significant," said Al Gerhardstein, a
Cincinnati civil rights attorney who represents plaintiffs in two Ohio
cases that will go before the appeals court. "They see the need to do
some basic rulings on core principles cutting across all these state
lines. It’s very exciting."
Louisville attorney Dawn Elliott, who
represents eight plaintiffs in the Kentucky case, said she and her
co-counsel plan to make their arguments personal, focusing on the people
affected by the ruling.
"Our plaintiffs are all planning on being
there, because it’s harder to say no to somebody when you’re looking at
them, to say, ‘No your marriage is not valid because you’re gay,’" said
Elliott’s co-counsel, Shannon Fauver.
The 6th Circuit is the
third federal appeals court to weigh recent challenges to state gay
marriage bans, though the first to consider cases in so many states at
the same time. Arguments were held in the 4th Circuit in Virginia
concerning one case in May and the 10th Circuit in Denver concerning two
cases in April. Rulings are expected soon.
In Cincinnati, a
three-judge panel will hear arguments in each case one at a time. It’s
unclear whether it will issue a large ruling encompassing all the cases
or separate ones. Any losing side could appeal to the U.S. Supreme
Court.
More than a dozen federal and state judges have struck down
part or all of state-level bans in recent months. No rulings have gone
the other way.
The 6th Circuit’s decision to consolidate the cases
is unusual but not unprecedented, said Carl Tobias, a professor of
constitutional law at the University of Richmond.
He pointed to
the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which
consolidated five segregation cases, and rulings on other issues
including abortion.
Although there has been a wave of rulings in
favor of gay marriage across the country, Tobias said that doesn’t mean
the circuit courts will uphold them.
"Appellate judges are a
little more distant and different than individual district judges and
they’re more willing to go against the tide," he said.
The five cases being considered by the Cincinnati appeals court are:
—
An order for Ohio to recognize all out-of-state gay marriages,
currently on hold, and a narrower case that forced Ohio to recognize
same-sex marriages on death certificates.
— A ruling that Kentucky
recognize out-of-state gay marriages, saying a statewide ban violated
the Constitution’s equal-protection clause by treating "gay and lesbian
persons differently in a way that demeans them."
— An order
overturning Michigan’s statewide gay marriage ban, which followed a rare
trial that focused mostly on the impact of same-sex parenting on
children. More than 300 couples were married on a Saturday in March
before the ruling was suspended pending appeal.
— An order for
Tennessee to recognize three same-sex marriages while a lawsuit against
the state works through the courts. Tennessee officials are appealing
the preliminary injunction to the 6th Circuit.
Ohio’s attorney
general has said the state’s voters have decided in 2004 that marriage
is between a man and a woman and that he’ll continue to defend the ban.
Michigan
Gov. Rick Snyder has said his state won’t recognize the 300 marriages
performed in March because the ban is still the law.
A spokesman
for Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has said the governor was disappointed in
the ruling, saying the state’s voters passed a statewide ban in 2006.
Kentucky
Gov. Steve Beshear hired private attorneys to appeal his state’s
decision after the Attorney General Jack Conway called a tearful news
conference to announce he would not appeal the ruling, saying that doing
so would be "defending discrimination."
___
Associated
Press writers Dylan Lovan in Louisville, Kentucky, and Travis Loller in
Nashville, Tennessee, contributed to this report.