2 states' gay-nuptials bans tossed

32 states file briefs asking Supreme Court to take up subject

 In this June 25, 2014 file photo Bart Peterson, left, and Pete McNamara are married by Marion County Clerk Beth White in Indianapolis after a federal judge struck down a state ban on same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage bans in both Indiana and Wisconsin were overturned in June and then appealed by the attorneys generals of both states. A U.S. appeals court in Chicago ruled Thursday, Sept. 4, 2014 that gay marriage bans in Wisconsin and Indiana violate the U.S. Constitution  thereby bumping the number of states where gay marriage will be legal from 19 to 21.

In this June 25, 2014 file photo Bart Peterson, left, and Pete McNamara are married by Marion County Clerk Beth White in Indianapolis after a federal judge struck down a state ban on same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage bans in both Indiana and Wisconsin were overturned in June and then appealed by the attorneys generals of both states. A U.S. appeals court in Chicago ruled Thursday, Sept. 4, 2014 that gay marriage bans in Wisconsin and Indiana violate the U.S. Constitution thereby bumping the number of states where gay marriage will be legal from 19 to 21.

Friday, September 5, 2014

CHICAGO -- A U.S. appeals court ruled that gay-marriage bans in Wisconsin and Indiana violate the U.S. Constitution on Thursday, the same day that 32 states asked the Supreme Court to settle the issue once and for all.

The unanimous decision by the three-judge panel of the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago criticized the justifications both states gave for the bans, several times singling out the argument that marriage between a man and a woman is tradition. There are, the court noted, good and bad traditions.

"Bad traditions that are historical realities such as cannibalism, foot-binding, and suttee, and traditions that from a public-policy standpoint are neither good nor bad -- such as trick-or-treating on Halloween," it said. "Tradition per se therefore cannot be a lawful ground for discrimination -- regardless of the age of the tradition."

Wisconsin Attorney General J.B Van Hollen said he would appeal Thursday's ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Elsewhere, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi's office filed notice Thursday that state officials are appealing a federal judge's ruling that the state's gay-marriage ban is unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle in Tallahassee, who was nominated by President Bill Clinton, ruled Aug. 21 that the Florida ban violates the 14th Amendment's guarantees of equal protection and due process. Hinkle issued a stay delaying the effect of his order, pending possible appeals.

Same-sex marriage is currently allowed in 19 states and the District of Columbia. Rulings that overturned bans in several other states have been put on hold while they are appealed. Since last year, the vast majority of federal rulings have declared same-sex marriage bans unconstitutional.

Massachusetts and 14 other states where same-sex marriage is legal filed a brief Thursday asking the Supreme Court to overturn other states' bans on gay marriage.

Meanwhile, Colorado and 16 other states that have banned same-sex marriage filed a separate brief asking the high court to rule one way or the other to clear up a "morass" of lawsuits.

The Wisconsin and Indiana cases shifted to Chicago after attorneys general in the states appealed separate lower-court rulings in June that tossed the bans. The 7th Circuit stayed those rulings pending its own decision on the cases, which were considered simultaneously.

After the bans were struck down and before the court rulings were put on hold during the appeals process, hundreds of gay couples in both states rushed to marry. Those marriages could have been jeopardized had the 7th Circuit restored the bans.

By standards of the 7th Circuit, the decision was unusually fast -- coming just nine days after oral arguments -- suggesting unanimity came easily to the panel.

Judge Richard Posner, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, wrote Thursday's opinion for the panel. During oral arguments, it was Posner who fired the toughest questions at defenders of the bans, often expressing exasperation at their answers.

The ruling echoes his comments during oral arguments that "hate" underpinned the gay-marriage bans, saying, "Homosexuals are among the most stigmatized, misunderstood, and discriminated-against minorities in the history of the world."

The states argued that the prohibitions helped foster a centuries-old tradition of marriage between men and women, and that the regulation of the institution of marriage was a tool for society to attempt to prevent pregnancies out of wedlock.

Thursday's opinion went back to that issue repeatedly, noting that some traditions, such as shaking hands or men wearing ties, may "seem silly" but "are at least harmless."

That, though, is not the case when it comes to gay-marriage bans, the court said.

"If no social benefit is conferred by a tradition and it is written into law and it discriminates against a number of people and does them harm beyond just offending them, it is not just a harmless anachronism; it is a violation of the equal protection clause," the opinion said.

A constitutional amendment approved in 2006 by voters banned gay marriage in Wisconsin, while state law prohibited it in Indiana. Neither state recognized same-sex marriages performed in other states.

Information for this article was contributed by staff members of The Associated Press.

A Section on 09/05/2014