Federal judge rules Indiana must recognize out of state same-sex marriages News
Federal judge rules Indiana must recognize out of state same-sex marriages

[JURIST] A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Tuesday that Indiana must recognize same-sex marriages performed out of state. The lawsuit was filed by one same-sex couple and one woman who sought a protective order against her wife; all plaintiffs were married outside of Indiana. The court considered the question of whether Indiana Code Section 31-11-1-1(b) [text] violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment [text]. Chief Judge Richard Young wrote:

The phenomenon that the court previously observed has continued to grow. Since issuing its prior orders, two circuit courts have found bans similar to Indiana’s to be unconstitutional. This court reaffirms that conclusion today. … Therefore, the court GRANTS Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment.

Young granted the defendants’ motion to stay the ruling pending appeal.

This was the second same-sex marriage ruling that Young issued in Indiana. In June Young struck down [JURIST report] Indiana’s same-sex marriage ban. Last week a Virginia official filed an emergency stay application [JURIST report] asking the US Supreme Court [official website] to block a decision [JURIST report] allowing same-sex marriages to proceed in Virginia. Earlier this month a Tennessee county judge upheld [JURIST report] that state’s same-sex marriage ban, noting that, “[t]here is nothing irrational about limiting the institution of marriage for the purpose for which it was created, by embracing its traditional definition.”