SCOTUS MARRIAGE DECISION 2015
Time line to April 28 – from Wisconsin Perspective
November 7, 2006 – Wisconsin citizens pass Marriage Protection Amendment (MPA), 59.4%-40.6%.
June 26, 2013 – US Supreme Court says part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional (the part that required for federal purposes that marriage be recognized only as between one man and one woman) and says states can determine for themselves what marriage will be
February 3, 2014 – ACLU files lawsuit against the state of WI in the Western District of Wisconsin Federal Court, alleging that Wisconsin’s MPA violates the US Constitution. WI becomes 15th state to have such a court challenge in the last year.
June 6, 2014 – Federal Judge Barbara Crabb issues opinion in ACLU lawsuit saying she agrees with ACLU. Wisconsin’s MPA, according to Judge Crabb, is unconstitutional. Pandemonium ensues because the judge is unclear on whether or not this ruling applies statewide and whether or not there is an injunction against immediate enactment.
July 10, 2014 – Wisconsin Attorney General appeals ACLU case to 7th Circuit Court of Appeals (WI, IL, IN) based in Chicago.
August 26, 2014 – 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago holds oral arguments on Wisconsin’s and Indiana’s marriage cases.
September 4, 2014 – 9 days after hearing arguments, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals issues opinion. The 3 judges who heard the case agree with what the lower court said: WI’s MAP violates US Constitution.
September 9, 2014 – WI Attorney General petitions US Supreme Court to hear WI’s marriage case.
October 6, 2014 – US Supreme Court declines, without comment, to hear WI’s marriage case as well as numerous other cases that were before it, thereby “officially” sanctioning marriage between two people of the same sex in WI.
January 16, 2015 – US Supreme Court accepts marriage cases from 6th Circuit Court of Appeals (MI, OH, KY, TN), the only circuit court up to that time that had ruled that states have the right to define marriage. Sets oral arguments for April 28.
April 28, 2015 – US Supreme Court to hear oral arguments in 6th Circuit Court of Appeals cases dealing with marriage.
