Tallahassee federal judge throws out Florida's ban on same-sex marriage

[shortsweetcynic]

U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle is the fifth judge in six weeks to make the same finding
A Tallahassee federal judge ruled Thursday that Florida's ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional, the fifth judge in the past six weeks to do so

Comments

[squidger]

Marriage laws are defined by the states. There is no federal law about marriage. States are free to define marriage as however they want (why different states have different legal ages, different laws re: first cousin marriage) as long as those definitions are constitutional, both under that state's constitution and the US constitution. That's why a lot of states specifically amended their state constitutions to define marriage as between a man and a woman: if it's in the constitution, it cannot be "unconstitutional." However, the US constitution trumps state constitutions. So, even if states amended their own constitutions, if those amendments violate the US constitution's equal protection clause, they're not valid.

If, in the prop 8 case, SCOTUS had made a decision on the merits, finding that a marriage ban is unconstitutional under the US constitution, that would apply to all states, and this current fight would be moot. It's how Loving v. Virginia made interracial marriage bans illegal everywhere, even though some states still had those bans as law. However, SCOTUS did not decide on Prop 8. All it said was that those who brought the appeal, the supporters of Prop 8, did not have standing to bring it. (They brought it because the state of California refused to defend Prop 8.) Because they did not have standing, the appeal was dismissed, and the lower court's ruling still held. That ruling cannot be applied across the country, so the fight continues on.

[shortsweetcynic]

thank you for explaining this so well. that makes sense to me now. :)

[squidger]

Glad I could!