[JURIST] A federal judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia [official website] on Friday ruled [opinion, PDF] that West Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, several weeks after state officials began issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. US District Judge Robert Chambers wrote that he was given a “clear blueprint” from the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit [official website] when it struck down Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage [JURIST report]. The Fourth Circuit includes Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. “The right to marry is a fundamental right, giving every individual the opportunity to exercise choice in this important relationship,” wrote Judge Chambers. “As such, the government must not interfere in that choice unless it demonstrates compelling state interests and carefully tailors its restrictions to protect those interests.” Chambers also criticized the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit’s [official website] recent decision to uphold Michigan’s ban on same-sex marriage [JURIST report], writing:

[The Sixth Circuit] fails to recognize the role of courts in the democratic process. It is the duty of the judiciary to examine government action through the lens of the Constitution’s protection of individual freedom. Courts cannot avoid or deny this duty just because it arises during the contentious public debate that often accompanies the evolution of policy making throughout the states. Judges may not simultaneously find a right violated yet defer to an uncertain future remedy voluntarily undertaken by the violators.

Chambers had previously stayed the West Virginia case until the US Supreme Court [official website] ruled on the issue. He lifted the stay after the Court made the Fourth Circuit’s decision final [JURIST report]. Although the state already began issuing marriage licenses, attorneys for Lambda Legal [advocacy website] filed the lawsuit to obtain a declaration in writing that West Virginia’s ban unconstitutional.

Since the Supreme Court struck down [JURIST report] section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act [text] last year, many federal courts have declared state same-sex marriage bans unconstitutional. In August a Tennessee county court was the first court in the country to uphold a state’s same-sex marriage ban [JURIST report] since Section 3 was declared unconstitutional. Earlier that month the Sixth Circuit heard oral arguments [JURIST report] in six lawsuits challenging same-sex marriage bans in four states. The appeals court upheld the bans. In July the US District Court for the District of Colorado [official website] struck down Colorado’s ban on same-sex marriage [JURIST report] as unconstitutional, but he immediately stayed his ruling pending an appeal to a higher court.