12-689 coalition's reply brief

Upload: equality-case-files

Post on 04-Apr-2018

222 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

  • 7/29/2019 12-689 Coalition's Reply Brief

    1/22

    No. 12-689

    In the Supreme Court of the United States_________

    COALITION FOR THE PROTECTION OF MARRIAGE,Petitioner,

    v.

    BEVERLYSEVCIK, et al.,Respondents.

    ________________________

    On Petition for a Writ of CertiorariBefore Judgment to the

    United States Court of Appealsfor the Ninth Circuit

    ________________________

    REPLY BRIEF FOR THE PETITIONER_______________________

    MONTE NEIL STEWARTCounsel of Record

    CRAIG G.TAYLORDANIEL W.BOWERBELNAP STEWART TAYLOR &

    MORRIS PLLC12550 W. Explorer Drive,

    Suite 100Boise, Idaho 83713(208) [email protected]

    WILLIAM C.DUNCANMARRIAGE LAW

    FOUNDATION1868 North 800 EastLehi,Utah 84043(801) 367-4570

    Counsel for Petitioner Coalition for the Protection ofMarriage

  • 7/29/2019 12-689 Coalition's Reply Brief

    2/22

    i

    TABLE OF CONTENTS

    Page

    1. A states federal constitutional authority to

    preserve marriages man-woman meaning does notturn on whether it has adopted a domestic

    partnership arrangement .......................................... 2

    2. The Coalition has Article III standing in its own

    right, and, in any event, the McConnellpiggy-back

    doctrine applies with full force to the Petition ......... 9

    3. The Oppositions discussion of grant, vacate, and

    remand has no application to this case or to the

    Petition ..................................................................... 13

    APPENDIX IState Constitutional Provisions

    On Domestic Partnerships ...................................... 1a

  • 7/29/2019 12-689 Coalition's Reply Brief

    3/22

    ii

    TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

    Cases

    Diamond v. Charles,476 U.S. 54 (1986) .......................................... 11, 12

    In re McElrath,

    248 F.2d 612 (D.C. Cir. 1957) .............................. 11

    King v. Bd. of Regents of Univ. of Nevada,

    200 P.2d 221 (1948) ................................................ 7

    McConnell v. Fed. Election Comm'n,

    540 U.S. 93 (2003) .................................................. 9

    Perry v. Brown,

    671 F.3d 1052 (9th Cir. 2012) ................................ 1

    Romer v. Evans,

    517 U.S. 620 (1996) ................................................ 3

    Constitutions and Statutes

    28 U.S.C. 1254(1) ............................................... 9, 12

    Nev. Rev. Stat. 122A.010 et seq. ........................... 2

    Utah Const. art. I, 29 .............................................. 6

    Rules

    Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24.......................... 10

  • 7/29/2019 12-689 Coalition's Reply Brief

    4/22

    iii

    Other Authorities

    Amici Curiae Brief of Judge Georg Ress and the

    Marriage Law Foundation in Support of

    Petitioners, Hollingsworth v. Perry, 133 S.Ct. 786(2012) (No. 12-144) ................................................. 5

    Amicus Curiae Brief of Coalition for the Protection of

    Marriage in Support of Hollingsworth and

    Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group Addressing the

    Merits and Supporting Reversal, Hollingsworth v.

    Perry, Nos. 12-144 and 12-307

    (U.S. Jan. 29, 2013) ................................................ 3

    Eugene Gressman et al., Supreme Court Practices

    2.52.4 (9th ed. 2007) ............................................ 9

    John R. Searle, Making the Social World: The

    Structure of Human Civilization (2010) ................ 4

    Matthew O'Brien, Why Liberal Neutrality Prohibits

    Same-Sex Marriage: Rawls, Political Liberalism,

    and the Family, 1 Brit. J. Amer. L. Studies 411

    (2012) ...................................................................... 4

    Monte Neil Stewart, Eliding in Washington and

    California,42 Gonzaga L. Rev. 501 (2007)............. 6

    Monte Neil Stewart, Judicial Redefinition of

    Marriage, 21 Can. J. Fam. L. 11 (2004) .................... 8

  • 7/29/2019 12-689 Coalition's Reply Brief

    5/22

    1

    ________________________

    REPLY BRIEF FOR THE PETITIONER_______________________

    The Nevada government officials named as

    defendants in this civil action and now appearing as

    respondents (Government Respondents) have filed

    no opposition to the Coalitions petition for writ of

    certiorari before judgment (Petition). The

    plaintiffs below (Plaintiff Respondents) have filed a

    Brief in Opposition (Opposition).

    The Petition demonstrated that this case is

    optimal for resolving the fundamental marriage

    issue. That issue is whether a state has sufficiently

    strong interests in preserving the man-woman

    meaning at the core of our societys marriage

    institutionwhen at no time in its history has the

    state allowed marriage by a same-sex couple. That

    issue applies to all forty-one states that continue to

    preserve marriages core man-woman meaning

    except California. See Pet. App. 62a70a. Theunique California experience is now before this

    Court in Hollingsworth v. Perry, No. 12-144.

    Although it is possible that this Court will resolve

    Perry in a way that answers the fundamental

    marriage issue, that is far from certain; the Ninth

    Circuit did not do so, relying instead on the unique

    take away feature it perceived in Californias

    Proposition 8. SeePerry v. Brown, 671 F.3d 1052,

    1064, 1076, 1082 n.14, 1087 n.20, 1096 (9th Cir.

    2012), cert. granted sub nom.Hollingsworth v. Perry,133 S.Ct. 786 (Dec. 7, 2012).

    The Opposition seeks to denigrate this cases

    optimal relationship to the fundamental marriage

  • 7/29/2019 12-689 Coalition's Reply Brief

    6/22

    2

    issue by making two arguments, both of which are

    plainly wrong.

    1. A states federal constitutional authority topreserve marriages man-woman meaning

    does not turn on whether it has adopted a

    domestic partnership arrangement.

    The Opposition argues that Nevadas 2009

    enactment of a domestic partnership arrangement

    available to same-sex couples1 somehow rendered

    unconstitutional the 2002 amendment to Nevadasconstitution that preserves marriages man-woman

    meaning (Marriage Amendment). The Opposition

    then argues that only a very small and possibly

    shrinking number of states share Nevadas legal

    landscape, that is, a legal landscape preserving

    marriages man-woman meaning while providing

    comprehensive domestic partnership or civil union

    schemes available to same-sex couples. Thus, the

    argument goes, this case will not resolve the

    fundamental marriage issue. Oppn at 1112.

    This narrow grounds argument makes sense

    only if a states adoption or not of a domestic

    partnership arrangement has any genuine

    constitutional significance relative to the marriage

    issue. It does not.

    Forty-one states have elected to preserve by law

    marriages man-woman meaning. See Pet. App. at

    67a70a. Of those, eight have chosen to make

    available to same-sex couples a domestic partnership

    or similar arrangement. Oppn at 11. Of the thirty-three that have not yet made that choice, nineteen

    1Domestic Partnership Act, Nev. Rev. Stat. 122A.010 et seq.

  • 7/29/2019 12-689 Coalition's Reply Brief

    7/22

    3

    have a constitutional provision precluding such an

    arrangement. See Reply Pet. App. at 1a4a; see also

    Pet. App. at 62a66a.2

    The Oppositions narrow grounds argument

    seems to have two facets: one, the domestic

    partnership legislation somehow effectively

    repudiates all the strong public interests advanced

    by the man-woman marriage laws, leaving

    thereafter those laws with an insufficiently strong

    basis in policy; and, two, because all the legislature

    or voters are doing with the man-woman marriage

    laws is withholding from same-sex couples the mere

    word marriage, the state cannot possibly have a good

    reason for such a course, and therefore all that is at

    work must be the kind of animus prohibited by

    Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (1996).

    Social institutional realities defeat both facets of

    the argument.3 Because social institutions are

    constituted by, and only by, complex webs of widely

    shared public meanings and are created by language

    acts, language creates the social reality that

    marriage unquestionably is. Marriage is an

    institution as fundamental, influential, and

    consequential as any. Accordingly, the political/legal

    power over the mere word marriage is a massive

    2The chart in the Petition Appendix incorrectly identifies

    Tennessee as such a state.3The Petition at 1521 and 2932 summarizes those realities,

    and the Coalitions amicus curiae brief in Perry and Windsor

    fleshes them out. Amicus Curiae Brief of Coalition for the

    Protection of Marriage in Support of Hollingsworth andBipartisan Legal Advisory Group Addressing the Merits and

    Supporting Reversal, Hollingsworth v. Perry, Nos. 12-144 and

    12-307 (U.S. Jan. 29, 2013).

  • 7/29/2019 12-689 Coalition's Reply Brief

    8/22

    4

    power. That power flows from the laws expressive

    effect and is reinforced by the laws coercive and

    pedagogical powers:

    The legal institution of marriage has the

    expressive effect of socially recognizing,

    promoting and dignifying the nature of the

    relationships that the law deems eligible for

    marriage. [T]he debate is about which rival

    conception of sexual value and identity should

    harness laws expressive effect and be

    reinforced by the laws coercive and

    pedagogical powers.4

    Informed genderless marriage advocates know

    this. One sees the role of the vocabulary in the

    activities of revolutionary and reformist movements.

    They try to get hold of the vocabulary in order to

    alter the system . . . .5 Here the role of the

    vocabulary, that is, the laws and hence societys use

    of the mere word marriage, will determine the fate

    of the childs bonding interest, of bionormativity in

    the construction of parenthood, of natural rights in

    family relations, of the statuses and identities of

    husband and wife, and on and on. Accordingly, a

    society cannot give up the mere word marriage

    without giving up the man-woman marriage

    institution and the valuable social goods that it

    uniquely provides.

    4

    Matthew B. OBrien, Why Liberal Neutrality Prohibits Same-Sex Marriage: Rawls, Political Liberalism, and the Family , 1

    Brit. J. Amer. L. Studies 411, 414 (2012).5John R. Searle, Making the Social World: The Structure of

    Human Civilization 104 (2010).

  • 7/29/2019 12-689 Coalition's Reply Brief

    9/22

    5

    Certainly the preservation of those goods is the

    wholly legitimate and compelling objective of the

    man-woman marriage laws in Nevada and the forty

    other states with such laws. That reality refutes the

    animus facet of the Plaintiff Respondents

    argument, built as it is on the false premise that a

    state and its people have no substantial legitimate

    reason to preserve the man-woman marriage

    institution. That facet is further refuted by the

    truth that

    [t]he overwhelming international consensus

    including among liberal western democracies

    with established traditions of concern for the

    rights of gays and lesbiansis that reserving

    the formal institution of marriage to opposite-

    sex couples while supporting same-sex couples

    through other rights and legal mechanisms is

    sound public policy. That consensus is based

    not on irrationality, ignorance, or animus

    toward gays and lesbians but on considered

    judgments about the unique nature and needsof same-sex couples and children.6

    The other facet of the argument for a society to

    recognize domestic partnerships somehow destroys

    its compelling interests in preserving man-woman

    marriageis equally baseless. To create a domestic

    partnership arrangement while still preserving

    marriages man-woman meaning simultaneously

    supports same-sex couples and insures the laws

    continuing support for the man-woman marriage

    6Amici Curiae Brief of Judge Georg Ress and the Marriage

    Law Foundation in Support of Petitioners at 2, Hollingsworth

    v. Perry, 133 S.Ct. 786(2012) (No. 12-144).

  • 7/29/2019 12-689 Coalition's Reply Brief

    10/22

    6

    institutionexactly for the purpose of preserving the

    valuable social goods it uniquely provides. After all,

    in both law and the public understanding a key

    meaning of domestic partnership is not marriage.7

    That not-marriage meaning is essential for the

    perpetuation of the valuable social goods our existing

    marriage institution uniquely providesgoods that a

    genderless marriage regime cannot provide and

    towards which it will be inimical.

    In light of these realities, a states adoption (or

    not) of a domestic partnership arrangement has no

    genuine constitutional significance. Federal

    constitutional jurisprudence does not and should not

    take the silly position of countenancing, for example,

    Utahs laws, which protect man-woman marriage

    and prohibit domestic partnerships and similar

    arrangements,8 while not countenancing Nevadas

    laws protecting man-woman marriage and providing

    domestic partnerships for same-sex couples. For

    federal constitutional jurisprudence, the authentic

    question for both Nevada and Utah and all statessituated like them must come down to the

    fundamental marriage issue: Does a state have

    sufficiently strong reasons and interests for

    preserving the man-woman meaning constitutive

    and at the core of our social institution of marriage?

    Moreover, the Plaintiff Respondents own

    arguments to the District Court refute their

    assertion now that this cases sole issue is and

    always has been the constitutionality of a man-

    7See Monte Neil Stewart, Eliding in Washington and

    California, 42 Gonz. L. Rev. 501, 510 n.40 (2007).8Utah Const. art. I, 29.

  • 7/29/2019 12-689 Coalition's Reply Brief

    11/22

    7

    woman marriage law in a legal context also

    providing for a domestic partnership arrangement.

    Their arguments have relied most heavily on the

    assertion that the social sciences somehow prove

    the societal interests advanced by the man-woman

    marriage institution either to be weak or to not be

    affected by implementation of a genderless marriage

    regime, see Dkt. Nos. 86, 86-2, 86-3, 98, 98-1, 98-2,

    rather than on the assertion that Nevadas Domestic

    Partnership Act repudiates those interests. Their

    primary assertion goes directly to the fundamentalmarriage issue and is not at all tied to the presence

    or not of a domestic partnership arrangement.

    Further, Plaintiff Respondents argument is

    premised on the notion that a state statute

    (Nevadas Domestic Partnership Act) can override

    the policies and purposes of a state constitutional

    provision (Nevadas Marriage Amendment) and

    thereby render the latter unconstitutional. That

    notion is clearly wrong. If the policy judgments of

    one must give way, it must be those of the statute.The Domestic Partnership Act has no power to

    repudiate the important social, governmental, and

    personal interests protected and advanced by the

    Marriage Amendment. SeeKing v. Bd. of Regents of

    Univ. of Nevada, 200 P.2d 221, 225 (1948) (state

    constitutions are limitations of the lawmaking

    power and legislation cannot contravene some

    expressed or necessarily implied limitation

    appearing in the constitution itself).

    Because it is built entirely on the never-provenand clearly wrong premise that implementation or

    not of a domestic partnership arrangement has

    constitutional significance, the Oppositions narrow

  • 7/29/2019 12-689 Coalition's Reply Brief

    12/22

    8

    grounds argument collapses entirely. This case

    from Nevada really is optimal for resolving the

    fundamental question. In important part, that is so

    because this case cannot be resolved without

    answering that question, and the answer will

    certainly determine marriages fate in at least forty

    states.

    This correct understanding of this cases

    connection to the fundamental marriage issue also

    illuminates the weakness of the Oppositions

    prudential argument against the Petition: this

    Court should allow more time for lower courts to

    consider, develop, and refine the issue. Oppn at

    1213. However, already at least twenty-one state

    appellate court decisions9 and thirteen federal court

    decisions have addressed some aspect of the issue,

    and the serious judicial and extrajudicial dialogue on

    the issue has been going on for twenty years now.

    Pet. at 14; Pet. App. at 59a61a. These realities

    quite thoroughly undercut the Oppositions call for

    more delay to get more lower court input.

    9Although the state courts were interpreting equality and

    liberty norms arising from state constitutions, in all materialrespects the issue and hence the judicial analysis were the

    same as the issue and analysis in the federal context. See, e.g.,

    Monte Neil Stewart, Judicial Redefinition of Marriage, 21 Can.

    J. Fam. L. 11, 2829 (2004).

  • 7/29/2019 12-689 Coalition's Reply Brief

    13/22

    9

    2. The Coalition has Article III standing in itsown right, and, in any event, theMcConnell

    piggy-back doctrine applies with full

    force to the Petition.

    The Oppositions second attack on this cases

    optimal status is to assert that the Coalition does

    not have Article III standing and that this asserted

    lack of standing precludes the Coalition from alone

    filing the Petition. The Opposition also argues that

    the McConnell piggy-back doctrine10 somehow

    does not operate in the context of 28 U.S.C.

    1254(1), which provides that any party may file a

    petition for writ of certiorari before judgment.11

    This case has always qualified as a case or

    controversy under Article III. Without question,

    the Plaintiff Respondents, on one hand, and the

    Government Respondents, on the other hand, each

    have Article III standing because the members of

    the former group are seeking to vindicate what they

    see as their personal federal constitutional rights

    and thus are seeking to impose a coercive judgment

    on the members of the latter group, with at least

    two of the Government Respondents (Governor

    Sandoval and Clerk-Recorder Glover) actively and

    consistently opposing such a judgment. See Dkt.

    Nos. 74, 85, 96, 97.

    Further, this case is one case and always has

    been. It has not divided amoeba-like to create one

    10

    See McConnell v. Fed. Election Commn, 540 U.S. 93, 233(2003), overruled in part on other grounds by Citizens United v.

    Fed. Election Commn, 558 U.S. 310 (2010).11See Eugene Gressman et al., Supreme Court Practice 2.52.4

    (9th ed. 2007).

  • 7/29/2019 12-689 Coalition's Reply Brief

    14/22

    10

    case in the District Court, another case in the Court

    of Appeals, and yet another case in this Court. It is

    one case with its genuine parties and its genuine

    controversy. (We note this because the Opposition

    seems to characterize the case here as somehow

    different and separate from the case in the Court of

    Appeals, with resulting confusion of analysis on the

    standing issue. SeeOppn at 710.)

    As to genuine parties, the Coalition is every bit as

    much a party to this case as any of its other parties.

    That is the logic and operation of Federal Rule of

    Civil Procedure 24, especially where, as here, the

    District Courts order made the Coalition a party

    without any conditions or restrictions on its

    involvement in the case. Dkt. No. 67.

    No standing or other justiciability issue hampers

    this case, either in general or in connection with the

    Petition. It is uncontested that this case contains

    parties on both sides with standing, and the parties

    are genuinely adverse and are litigating accordingly.

    The Oppositions effort to cloud that reality should

    get no traction.

    The Coalition has its own Article III standing on

    four independent and individually adequate

    grounds. One, the Coalition has a real, concrete, and

    highly particularized reputational interest at stake

    here. The Plaintiff Respondents have made in this

    case the standard animus/bigotry arguments and

    focused them with particularly on the Coalition,

    even before the Coalition was a party. It is not the

    Government Respondents who have been the targetsof the animus/bigotry arguments; rather, the target

    has been the Coalition because of its unique role as

  • 7/29/2019 12-689 Coalition's Reply Brief

    15/22

    11

    the leader of the campaign in favor of the Marriage

    Amendment and as the primary source of the

    campaign ads. See Dkt. Nos. 1 at 9; 30 at 13. Such a

    particularized reputational interest at stake in this

    context sustains Article III standing. E.g., In re

    McElrath, 248 F.2d 612, 616 (D.C. Cir. 1957). Two

    and three, as established in the District Court, see

    Dkt. No. 30 at 1315, the Coalition has associational

    standing relative to its members particularized

    interests both in the perpetuation of the man-woman

    marriage institution and its unique social goods andin specific religious liberties put in genuine jeopardy

    by a move to a genderless marriage regime. Id.

    Four, as proponent of the Marriage Amendment, the

    Coalition under Nevada law stands in the same

    relationship to this case as the Petitioners in Perry

    under California law have in that case, with only the

    difference that some Nevada officials are actively

    opposing the plaintiffs claims.

    The McConnellpiggy-back doctrine applies with

    full force to the Petition, and the Oppositionssuggestions to the contrary are clearly wrong. First,

    in this case, unlike Windsor, the government officials

    whose standing matters for purposes of the doctrine

    have since the beginning of the case actively and

    continuously opposed the plaintiffs claims; those

    officials are Governor Sandoval and Clerk-Recorder

    Glover. They have not opposed the Petition and

    continue to actively oppose the Plaintiff

    Respondents claims.

    Second, Diamond v. Charles, 476 U.S. 54 (1986),clearly does not apply here. There,

  • 7/29/2019 12-689 Coalition's Reply Brief

    16/22

    12

    [b]y not appealing the judgment below, the

    State indicated its acceptance of that decision,

    and its lack of interest in defending its own

    statute. The States general interest may be

    adverse to the interests of appellees, but its

    failure to invoke our jurisdiction leaves the

    Court without a case or controversy

    between appellees and the State of Illinois.

    Id. at 6364. In contrast, here Nevada has not

    accepted, and thereby declined to contest further, an

    adverse judgment; rather, it (through the Governor

    and the Clerk-Recorder) continues to defend the

    Marriage Amendment against the Plaintiff

    Respondents claims.

    The only question is where the next round of the

    litigation will occur, here or in the Court of Appeals.

    Either place, this case will fully qualify as an Article

    III case or controversy because, in either place, the

    concrete interests and actual adversity of the parties

    will be exactly the same. That reality is not altered

    by the fact that it was the Coalition rather than

    some other party that invoked the right of any

    party to seek to have the next round of the contest

    here instead of in the Court of Appeals. See 28

    U.S.C. 1254(1).

    As to the wisdom of the next round being here

    instead of in the Court of Appeals, the fundamental

    marriage issue has been fully ventilated, developed,

    and refined, both judicially and extrajudicially, over

    the past twenty years; the issue is one of surpassing

    importance and consequence; and the Nation itseems to us is understandably anxious to have this

  • 7/29/2019 12-689 Coalition's Reply Brief

    17/22

    13

    Court resolve that issue now. This case is optimal

    for resolving that issue.

    3. The Oppositions discussion of grant,vacate, and remand has no application to

    this case or to the Petition.

    With all due respect, the Oppositions discussion

    of GVR has no application to this case or to the

    Petition.

    The Courts options are:

    Hold the Petition pending resolution ofPerry and/or Windsor;

    Grant the Petition and expedite briefingand argument (if there is to be any) so as to

    resolve this case this Term;

    Grant the Petition and set the case forargument next Term; or

    Deny the Petition, in which event this casewill proceed in the Court of Appeals.

    The Coalition urges the second option.

    Respectfully submitted,

    MONTE NEIL STEWARTCounsel of Record

    CRAIG G.TAYLORDANIEL W.BOWERBELNAP STEWART TAYLOR &MORRIS PLLC12550 W. Explorer Drive, Suite 100Boise, Idaho 83713(208) 345-3333

    [email protected]

    February 14, 2013

  • 7/29/2019 12-689 Coalition's Reply Brief

    18/22

    1a

    APPENDIX I

    LANGUAGE OF STATE CONSTITUTIONAL

    BANS ON DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIPS AND

    OTHER NON-MARITAL UNIONS

    Alabama: 2006; A union replicating marriage of or

    between persons of the same sex in the state of

    Alabama or in any other jurisdiction shall beconsidered and treated in all respects as having no

    legal force of effect in this state and shall not be

    recognized by this state as a marriage or other union

    replicating marriage Ala. Const. amdt. 774.

    Arkansas: 2004; Legal status for unmarried

    persons which is identical or substantially similar to

    marital status shall not be valid or recognized in

    Arkansas Ark Const. amend. LXXXII, 1.

    Florida: 2008; Inasmuch as marriage is the legalunion of only one man and one woman as husband

    and wife, no other legal union that is treated as

    marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall

    be valid or recognized. Fla. Const. art. I, 27.

    Georgia: 2004; This state shall not give effect to

    any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any

    other state or jurisdiction respecting a relationship

    between persons of the same sex that is treated as a

    marriage under the laws of such other state orjurisdiction. Ga. Const. art. I, 4 1.

  • 7/29/2019 12-689 Coalition's Reply Brief

    19/22

    2a

    Idaho: 2006; A marriage between a man and a

    woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be

    valid or recognized in this state. Idaho Const., Art.

    III, sec. 28.

    Kansas: 2005; No relationship, other than a

    marriage, shall be recognized by the state as

    entitling the parties to the rights or incidents of

    marriage. Kan. Const. art. XV, 16.

    Kentucky: 2004; A legal status identical or

    substantially similar to that of marriage for

    unmarried individuals shall not be valid or

    recognized. Kentucky Const., 233A.

    Louisiana: 2004; A legal status identical or

    substantially similar to that of marriage for

    unmarried individuals shall not be valid or

    recognized. La. Const. art. XII, 15.

    Michigan: 2004; To secure and preserve the

    benefits of marriage for our society and for future

    generations of children, the union of one man and

    one woman in marriage shall be the only agreement

    recognized as a marriage or similar union for any

    purpose. Mich. Const. art. I, 25.

    Nebraska: 2000; The uniting of two persons of the

    same sex in a civil union, domestic partnership, or

    other similar same-sex relationship shall not bevalid or recognized in Nebraska. Neb. Const. art. I,

    29.

  • 7/29/2019 12-689 Coalition's Reply Brief

    20/22

    3a

    North Dakota: 2004; No other domestic union,

    however denominated, may be recognized as a

    marriage or given the same or substantially

    equivalent legal effect. N.D. Const. art. XI, 28.

    Ohio: 2004; This state and its political subdivisionsshall not create or recognize a legal status for

    relationships of unmarried individuals that intends

    to approximate the design, qualities, significance oreffect of marriage. Ohio Const. art. XV, 11

    Oklahoma: 2004; Neither this Constitution nor

    any other provision of law shall be construed to

    require that marital status or the legal incidents

    thereof be conferred upon unmarried couples or

    groups. Okla. Const. art. II, 35.

    South Carolina: 2006; A marriage between one

    man and one woman is the only lawful domestic

    union that shall be valid or recognized in this State.This State and its political subdivisions shall not

    create a legal status, right or claim respecting any

    other domestic union, however denominated. This

    State and its political subdivisions shall not

    recognize or give effect to a legal status, right or

    claim created by another jurisdiction respecting any

    other domestic union, however denominated.

    Nothing in this section shall impair any right or

    benefit extended by the State or its political

    subdivisions other than a right or benefit arisingfrom a domestic union that is not valid or recognized

    in this State. This section shall not prohibit or limit

    parties, other than the State or its political

  • 7/29/2019 12-689 Coalition's Reply Brief

    21/22

    4a

    subdivisions, from entering into contracts or other

    legal instruments. S.C. Const. art. XVII, 15.

    South Dakota: 2006; The uniting of two or more

    persons in a civil union, domestic partnership, or

    other quasi-marital relationship shall not be valid or

    recognized. S.D. Const. art. XXI, 9.

    Texas: 2005; This state or a political subdivision ofthis state may not create or recognize any legal

    status identical or similar to marriage. Texas Const.

    Art. I, 32.

    Utah: 2004; No other domestic union, however

    denominated, may be recognized as a marriage or

    given the same or substantially equivalent legal

    effect. Utah Const., Art. I, 29.

    Virginia: 2006; This Commonwealth and its

    political subdivisions shall not create or recognize alegal status for relationships of unmarried

    individuals that intends to approximate the design,

    qualities, significance, or effects of marriage. Nor

    shall this Commonwealth or its political subdivisions

    create or recognize another union, partnership, or

    other legal status to which is assigned the rights,

    benefits, obligations, qualities, or effects of

    marriage. Virginia Const., Art. I, 15-A.

    Wisconsin: 2006;

    Only a marriage between oneman and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a

    marriage in this state. A legal status identical or

    substantially similar to that of marriage for

  • 7/29/2019 12-689 Coalition's Reply Brief

    22/22

    5a

    unmarried individuals shall not be valid or

    recognized in this state. Wisconsin Const., Art. XIII,

    13. Cf. Appling v. Doyle, 2012 WL 6633863 (Wisc.

    Ct. App., Dec. 20, 2012) (publication decision

    pending) (noting that Wisconsins limited domestic

    partnership law does not violate Wisconsins

    Constitution.).