(San Francisco, CA, September 10, 2014)—Today, the State of Utah filed the final papers needed for the U.S. Supreme Court to consider whether or not to grant review of the Tenth Circuit ruling in favor of the freedom to marry in Utah. The Court has scheduled the case for possible discussion at its September 29th conference, the first time the justices will consider any possible case for the coming term.
The case was brought by plaintiff couples—Kody Partridge and Laurie Wood, Derek Kitchen and Moudi Sbeity, and Kate Call and Karen Archer—who argue that state laws banning marriage equality violate the U.S. Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection and due process.
The couples in the case—Kitchen v. Herbert—are represented by Peggy Tomsic of the Salt Lake City law firm of Magleby & Greenwood, P.C., Shannon Minter of the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), Mary Bonauto of Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), and former acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal of the law firm of Hogan Lovells.
Said Tomsic: “The State of Utah and the plaintiff couples agree that it is important the Supreme Court take this case and settle the constitutional questions at stake, questions that matter so much to the families we represent and to so many others across the country.”
Said Bonauto: “It is time to end the legal bans that keep committed couples from standing up and making the unique pledges of marriage to each other—pledges that would allow their families protection and security everywhere in this country.”
Said Minter: “Utah’s same-sex couples and their children are suffering severe harm from the state’s continued denial of equal dignity and legal protection for their families. We hope the Supreme Court will affirm the Tenth Circuit’s determination that same-sex couples and their children deserve the same protection and respect as other families.”