Spencer Geiger (left) and Carl Johansen protest for equal marriage outside the Walter E. Hoffman U.S. Courthouse as oral arguments in the case of Bostic v Rainey proceed on February 4, 2014 in Norfolk, Virginia. (Photo by Jay Paul/Getty Images)
Virginia’s attorney general today asked the Supreme Court to review two recent court decisions that overturned the commonwealth’s ban on same-sex marriage.
“Many brave men and women have fought for years for the constitutional guarantee of marriage equality, and now, we are almost there,” Attorney General Mark Herring said in a release. “It is time to discard these discriminatory bans and to recognize the humanity, dignity, and rights of gay and lesbian Americans seeking to forge life-long bonds. I believe this case will prove compelling for the Court because of the stringent, discriminatory nature of Virginia’s marriage ban, the range of critical questions presented, the clear legal standing of the parties, and Virginia’s historic role in 1967’s Loving case ending bans on interracial marriage. Virginia got that case wrong. Now, we have a chance to get it right, and to help extend to all Americans the right to marry the person they love.”
In February, a federal judge ruled that Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban violates the Due Process and Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld the ruling last month.
“We recognize that same-sex marriage makes some people deeply uncomfortable,” Judge Henry F. Floyd wrote in his ruling. “However, inertia and apprehension are not legitimate bases for denying same-sex couples due process and equal protection of the laws. Civil marriage is one of the cornerstones of our way of life.”
Herring’s brief to the Supreme Court asking for a review argues that the case provides the justices with the ability to resolve questions left after the Proposition 8 and Windsor rulings.
