De Leon v. Perry
| De Leon v. Perry | |
|---|---|
No. 5:13-cv-982
|
|
| Court | United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit |
| Full case name |
Cleopatra de Leon, et. al., Plaintiffs, v. Rick Perry, in his official capacity as Governor of Texas, et. al. Defendants. |
| Case history | |
| Prior action(s) | Judge Orlando Luis Garcia, W.D. Tex., struck down Texas' ban on same-sex marriage. |
| Holding | |
| Texas's ban on same-sex marriage violates the Fourteenth Amendment per Obergefell v. Hodges. | |
| Court membership | |
| Judge(s) sitting | Patrick Higginbotham, Jerry Edwin Smith, James E. Graves, Jr. |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Smith, joined by Higginbotham, Graves |
| Keywords | |
| Marriage, Equal Protection, Same-sex marriage, Sexual Orientation | |
Cleopatra de Leon, et. al., Plaintiffs, v.
De Leon v. Perry was a federal lawsuit challenging Texas marriage law, specifically the state's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and corresponding statutes. A U.S. district court ruled in favor of the plaintiff same-sex couples on February 26, 2014, granting their motion for a preliminary injunction. The state defendants filed an interlocutory appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, as the disposition on the motion was not a final ruling in the case. On April 14, 2014, the plaintiffs filed a motion for an expedited hearing, which was denied on May 21, 2014. The plaintiffs filed another motion for an expedited hearing on October 6, 2014, after the Supreme Court of the United States denied appeals in other marriage equality cases, and the motion was granted on October 7, 2014, setting a hearing for November 2014. However, on October 27, 2014, the Fifth Circuit set oral arguments for January 9, 2015.
The Fifth Circuit heard oral argument on January 9, 2015. The case was still pending in the Fifth Circuit when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 26, 2015, in Obergefell v. Hodges that the denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples is unconstitutional. On July 1, the Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court judgment in favor of the plaintiffs.
Article I, Section 32 of the Constitution of Texas, added via referendum as Proposition 2 on November 8, 2005, specifically banned same-sex marriage by definition: "Marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman."
Plaintiffs in the case are Mark Phariss and Victor ("Vic") Holmes, then an unmarried gay couple who wished to marry in-state, and Nicole Dimetman and Cleopatra De Leon, a lesbian couple lawfully married in Massachusetts wanting in-state recognition of that marriage. The lead named plaintiff, Cleopatra De Leon, is a U.S. Air Force and Texas Air National Guard veteran, and in a committed relationship with her wife for 12 years at the time of the filing of the suit. Victor Holmes, a retired United States Air Force major who served almost 23 years, and Mark Phariss, a corporate attorney, were in a committed relationship for 16 years at the time of the filing of the lawsuit. On the other end, the lead named defendant is Rick Perry, sued in his official capacity as the Governor of Texas.
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