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Pennsylvania's ban on gay marriage struck down by federal judge Pennsylvania's gay marriage ban struck down by federal judge
(about 2 hours later)
A federal judge has struck down Pennsylvania's ban on gay marriage, a day after decision in Oregon. Same-sex couples can now marry in all north-eastern US states after a federal judge struck down Pennsylvania's ban on Tuesday a day after a similar law was overturned in Oregon.
Judge John Jones ruled unconstitutional a 1996 state law that effectively bans same-sex marriage and recognition of such marriages from other states. The Pennsylvania ruling marks the latest victory in what has been a spectacular year for marriage equality. The ruling is the 14th consecutive legal win for gay marriage advocates since the US supreme court's Windsor decision in June 2013 that found part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (Doma) unconstitutional.
“We now join the 12 federal district courts across the country which, when confronted with these inequities in their own states, have concluded that all couples deserve equal dignity in the realm of civil marriage,” Jones wrote. US district judge John Jones wrote in his ruling: "That same-sex marriage causes discomfort in some does not make its prohibition constitutional. Nor can past tradition trump the bedrock constitutional guarantees of due process and equal protection. Were that not so, ours would still be a racially segregated nation according to the now rightfully discarded doctrine of 'separate but equal'."
It was not immediately clear if the ruling would be stayed pending an appeal. The state's governor, Republican Tom Corbett, has defended the law, while attorney general Kathleen Kane said she believes it is unconstitutional. But an appeal to the third US circuit court of appeals is likely. Jones concludes: "We are better people than what these laws represent, and it is time to discard them in the ash heap of history."
Pennsylvania was the last north-eastern state to outlaw gay marriage. The lawsuit, filed 9 July by civil rights lawyers on behalf of a widow, 10 couples and one of the couples' two teenage daughters, was the first-known challenge to a the de facto ban on same-sex marriage. The Pennsylvania ruling does not include a stay pending appeal – which would have placed a hold on the ruling in the event of an appeal by the governor's office. However, there is a mandatory three-day waiting period for all weddings in the state.
State marriage bans have been falling around the country since the supreme court's "Windsor" decision last year. The landmark ruling struck down part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Pennsylvania would be the 19th state – along with the District of Columbia – to allow gay marriage. The Pennsylvania lawsuit was filed in July by civil rights lawyers on behalf of several gay couples in the state. The law was defended by the state's governor, Republican Tom Corbett; the state's attorney general Kathleen Kane declined to defend it, saying she believes the law is unconstitutional. The ruling is expected to be appealed.
Dozens of gay and lesbian couples are now legally married in Oregon after a judge invalidated the state's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage. Including Tuesday's ruling, 19 states and the District of Columbia permit same-sex couples to wed – and an estimated 44% of the US population lives in a state that allows same-sex couples to marry.
Jubilant couples began applying for marriage licenses immediately after US district judge Michael McShane issued his ruling Monday, and many were married hours later. In Portland, Multnomah County issued more than 70 licenses, according to the gay-rights group Oregon United for Marriage. In the past few months, judges in Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Virginia and other states have overturned bans on same-sex, striking down the states' laws as unconstitutional.
In his ruling, Jones called the issue of same-sex marriage "a divisive one": Most recently, on Monday, a judge in Oregon overturned the state's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage. Oregon couples began applying for marriage licenses immediately following the ruling, which is not expected to be challenged as the state refused to defend the ban and said it would not appeal. On the same day, a federal judge in Utah ordered that the state must respect more than 1,000 marriages issued during the weeks-long period before the US supreme court intervened and issued an emergency stay.
"Some of our citizens are made deeply uncomfortable by the notion of same-sex marriage. However, that same-sex marriage causes discomfort in some does not make its prohibition constitutional. Nor can past tradition trump the bedrock constitutional guarantees of due process and equal protection. Freedom to Marry, a campaign promoting marriage equality, estimates that 70 more cases are currently pending in state and federal courts in more than 30 states and territories across country.
We are a better people than what these laws represent, and it is time to discard them into the ash heap of history."