Today The 9th Circuit Federal Appeals Court Will Hear Marriage Cases From Three States

The 9th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals today will hear arguments in marriage cases from three states. What are the chances of a positive ruling?

This afternoon the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments in three marriage cases from Idaho, Nevada, and Hawaii, even though the Aloha State already has enacted same-sex marriage.

The panel hearing arguments, Judges Stephen Reinhardt, Marsha Berzon, and Ronald Gould, is expected to be highly-supportive of the plaintiffs arguing for the freedom to marry. Judge Reinhardt wrote the 2012 opinion striking down California’s Prop 8. 

Freedom To Marry notes Judge Reinhardt also penned “the decision in SmithKline Beecham v. Abbott Labs, the case which earlier this year found that laws discriminating based on sexual orientation must be considered with ‘heightened scrutiny.’ That heightened scrutiny distinction sets the 9th Circuit’s hearing apart from the other federal appellate court hearings from this year.”

Judge Reinhardt was nominated by President Jimmy Carter, Judge Berzon was nominated by President Bill Clinton, as was Judge Gould.

The cases are Latta v. Otter from Idaho, Sevcik v. Sandoval  from Nevada, and Jackson v. Abercrombie from Hawaii. Jackson v. Abercrombie will not affect the freedom to marry in Hawaii.

A ruling is expected to come sooner rather than later.

Here’s a video from the National Center for Lesbian Rights about their case in Idaho, Latta v. Otter:

 

Come back later today to The New Civil Rights Movement, where you can watch the hearing live beginning at 4:00 PM EDT.

 

 

Image: Shelia Robertson and Andrea Altmayer, plaintiffs in Latta v. Otter, via YouTube