Bernard Friedman, the senior judge of the United States Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, today heard arguments on the state of Michigan’s 2004 ban on same-sex marriage, which a same-sex couple is claiming is unconstitutional. The judge, who was expected to rule from the bench, concluded today’s hearing stating there are matters of law that must be examined. He will issue a written opinion at a later date, but agreed his ruling should be “expedited.”
Friedman has now set February 25, 2014 as the trail date. Plaintiffs were hoping the judge would issue a summary ruling. Now, they will have to go to trial.
The state today argued that although the plaintiffs — Jayne Rowse and April Deboer — are doing “a wonderful job raising their children,” the people should directly decide the issue of marriage, and therefore a federal court is not the appropriate venue. The state also claimed that the “optimal environment” for raising children is a home with both a mother and a father.
There is a possibility that the state used the flawed Mark Regnerus anti-gay parenting “study” in its argument, as the attorney for the plaintiffs took several minutes to dispute the “optimal environment” allegations.
At the end of their argument, the defense demanded that the judge, if he ruled for the plaintiffs, issue an immediate stay so that the state could appeal his ruling without any same-sex couples marrying or adopting.
Meanwhile, the plaintiffs argued that the U.S. Supreme Court has already provided guidance on same-sex marriage earlier this year. They pointed to the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, saying, “We at times, have lost our footing, and sometimes our humanity. We rely on federal courts, sometimes, to tell us there are no second-class citizens in our country.”
Carole Stanyar, attorney for the plaintiffs, quoting legal precedent, said that “if discrimination would be allowed, our children would be drinking from separate water fountains. The 14th Amendment would not tolerate those events, nor should they tolerate discrimination against gays and lesbians.”
“Children don’t fare well in unstable family units. Children benefit if their parents are married,” Stanyar said. She also stated that if theSupreme Court had believed same-sex parents harm kids, it would not have ruled against DOMA as it did. She also noted that these “marriage bans…are hurting the most vulnerable members of our society.”
Jayne Rowse and April Deboer are two pediatric nurses who adopted children, some of whom were not expected to live. Their case originally only argued against Michigan’s ban on joint adoption by same-sex couples, or unmarried couples. But it was Judge Friedman himself who suggested the couple change their lawsuit to go after the state ban on same-sex marriage.
Amazingly, ahead of the judge’s decision, 83 counties in Michigan were prepared to issue marriage licenses.
Friedman, who turned 70 last month, was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to the federal bench.
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Editor’s note: Court quotes via Detroit Free Press live blog, and Rick Pluta via Twitter.