LANSING, MI (MPRN)-- A federal appeals court has upheld same-sex marriage bans in Michigan and three other Midwestern states. Now, the plaintiffs in the Michigan case say they’re ready to take the question to the US Supreme Court.
A review by the nation’s highest court seems likely now that the US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has broken with four other federal appeals courts, and said each state should be allowed to decide whether to recognize same-sex unions.
“The decision that we got today is a little in the disappointing side, but we stand before you to tell you that we are going to continue to fight,” said April DeBoer. She and her partner, Jayne Rowse, started this case seeking the right to jointly adopt the special needs children they’re raising. “We will do whatever it takes to ensure our children have rights here in Michigan, and children like ours all over the United States now.”
Last March, a federal judge in Detroit agreed they should be allowed to marry and struck down Michigan’s same-sex marriage ban as a violation of equal protection rights. Now, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a divided ruling, reversed that and said the ban is constitutional.
DeBoer, Rowse, and their legal team say they’ll be ready to file with the Supreme Court within a couple of weeks, in time to get the case on the court’s January conference docket. Then it will be up to the justices to decide whether to hear the case.
“Ultimately, the only court that can resolve this split is the United States Supreme Court,” says Jay Kaplan, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBT Legal Project.
Noted conservative appeals court Judge Jeffrey Sutton wrote the majority opinion, and expressed confidence that same-sex marriages will eventually be recognized in every state. The question was, how should the country go about it? Sutton said it should not be a court-ordered solution -- that states should do it on their own to allow the public to reach a consensus using the ballot or through actions by state legislatures.
He wrote: “We must keep in mind that something can be fundamentally important without being a fundamental right under the Constitution.”
The appeals court also upheld marriage bans in Ohio, Tennessee, and Kentucky. The court took about three months to reach its decision after hearing arguments last August in Cincinnati.
“We believe that the court in Cincinnati got it right,” says Dave Maluchnik of the Michigan Catholic Conference, which helped lead the ballot drive 10 years ago to adopt the same-sex marriage ban as part of the state constitution. It was approved by almost 60 percent of voters.
“The court’s ruling is a joyous occasion for many communities and families across the state that have been working to uphold the traditional definition of marriage.”
State Attorney General Bill Schuette has led the defense of the amendment.
“The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ruled, and Michigan’s constitution remains in full effect,” Schuette said in a written statement. “As I have stated repeatedly, the U.S. Supreme Court will have the final word on this issue. The sooner they rule, the better, for Michigan and the country.”
The decision does leave in limbo the status of 300 same-sex couples who were married over a period of several hours last March. That was right after federal judge Bernard Friedman struck down Michigan’s marriage amendment, but before the Sixth Circuit put a stop to the weddings.
The federal government recognizes the marriages, but Governor Rick Snyder says the state can’t until the Supreme Court says they’re legal. The ACLU has filed a separate legal action to force the state to recognize the marriages.