Today the state of Utah completed the paperwork asking the Supreme Court to review the 10th Circuit’s ruling in Herbert v. Kitchen, affirming the freedom to marry and legal respect for same-sex couples’ marriages in Utah. The case is now fully briefed and ready to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. Herbert v. Kitchen, along with four other marriage cases from Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Virginia, will initially be considered at the Court’s September 29 conference. The other four will soon be fully briefed as well.
Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, released the following statement:
"Utah’s brief to the Supreme Court gets at least one point exactly right: the freedom to marry is a matter of ‘immense national importance’ and deserves to be heard as quickly as possible by America’s highest court. Tens of thousands of families in Utah and throughout the country are being harmed by indefensible marriage discrimination, which nearly 40 federal and state courts have deemed unconstitutional. It’s time for the Supreme Court to bring the country to national resolution by taking one or more of the pending marriage cases in its upcoming term. America is ready for the freedom to marry.”
In a remarkable showing of the country’s readiness for the Supreme Court to resolve the question nationwide, attorneys general from 32 states, along with dozens of American businesses, have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to act now. Since the Supreme Court struck down the core of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act in June 2013, dozens of state and federal courts have upheld the freedom to marry, with only two courts ruling the other way. Every appellate ruling has been in favor of the freedom to marry, including the Utah and Oklahoma cases in the 10th Circuit, the Virginia case in the 4th Circuit, and the Wisconsin and Indiana cases in the 7th Circuit.
Last week, Freedom to Marry signed a friend-of-the-court brief along with other leading organizations advocating for families and couples who have suffered because they are either denied the freedom to marry or their lawful marriages are not respected by discriminating states. The brief can be found here: http://freemarry.3cdn.net/d70e2407cc970e9db0_sbm6bhxaw.pdf
