Court Upholds Hawaii Law Permitting Same-Sex Marriage

A news release from Hawaii's Department of Attorney General reports that on Jan. 29 a state trial court judge upheld the constitutionality under both the state and federal constitutions of Hawaii's Marriage Equality Act of 2013:

In his ruling from the bench, Judge Sakamoto noted the importance of marriage under the federal constitution, drawing an analogy to Loving v. Virginia, the landmark United States Supreme Court case that struck down state laws banning inter-racial marriage. He concluded that the Marriage Equality Act is consistent with Article I, section 23 of the Hawaii State Constitution, and that “same-sex marriage is legal.”

Article I, Sec. 23 of Hawaii's constitution provides: "The legislature shall have the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples."