Sunday, March 16, 2014

Narrow Injunction Requires Tennessee To Recognize Marriages of 3 Same-Sex Couples

As reported by SCOTUSblog, on Friday a Tennessee federal district court issued a narrow preliminary injunction requiring Tennessee to recognize the same-sex marriages of the three couples who are plaintiffs in the case and who were married in states where such marriages are legal.  In Tanco v. Haslam, (MD TN, March 14, 2014), the court said in part:
Currently, all relevant federal authority indicates that the plaintiffs in this case are indeed likely to prevail on their claims that the Anti-Recognition Laws are unconstitutional. That said, by the time that this court is asked to render a final judgment, it may be that other federal courts will have reached a different interpretation that favors the defendants’ position. By the same token, it may be that federal courts will continue uniformly to strike down anti-recognition laws, state same-sex marriage bans, and other laws that discriminate based on sexual orientation. The impact of future decisions, which are forthcoming as the result of continuing litigation in other federal trial and appellate courts across the country, will inevitably influence the ultimate disposition of this case.