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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed federal court rulings in Indiana and Wisconsin invalidating the states’ prohibitions of same-sex marriage.
The federal appeals court released one opinion in the Indiana cases Baskin, et al. v. Bogan, et al.; Fujii, et al. v. Commissioner, et al.; and Lee, at al. v. Abbott, et al., 14-2386-14-2388, as well as Wisconsin case Wolf v. Walker, 14-2526. The cases were combined on appeal before the 7th Circuit and argued Aug. 26.
“Our pair of cases is rich in detail but ultimately straight-forward to decide. The challenged laws discriminate against a minority defined by an immutable characteristic, and the only rationale that the states put forth with any conviction – that same-sex couples and their children don’t need marriage because same-sex couples can’t produce children, intended or unintended – is so full of holes that it cannot be taken seriously,” Judge Richard Posner wrote in the 40-page opinion.
The plaintiffs in the cases challenged their respective state’s ban on same-sex marriage. Chief Judge Richard Young in the Southern District of Indiana this summer ruled the state’s marriage statute is unconstitutional, leading to a rush by same-sex couples to get married. The 7th Circuit put a stay on the ruling until it could decide the matter.
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