Kitchen v. Herbert

Kitchen v. Herbert
Court of Appeals Docket: 13-4178
Court	United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Full case name	Derek Kitchen; Moudi Sbeity; Karen Archer; Kate Call; Laurie Wood; Kody Partridge, individually, Plaintiffs - Appellees, v. Gary R. Herbert, in his official capacity as Governor of Utah; Sean Reyes, in his official capacity as Attorney General of Utah, Defendants - Appellants, and Sherrie Swensen, in her official capacity as Clerk of Salt Lake County, Defendant.
Argued	April 10, 2014
Decided	June 25, 2014
Citation(s)	755 F.3d 1193 (10th Cir. 2014)
Case history
Prior action(s)	Stay of judgment ordered, 134 S.Ct. 893 (2014) Judgment for the plaintiff in district court, 961 F. Supp. 2d 1181 (D. Utah 2013). Amendment 3 of the Utah Constitution is found to violate 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Subsequent action(s)	Petition for certiorari denied, No. 14-124, 135 S. Ct. 265 (Oct. 6, 2014).
Case opinions
[1]
Court membership
Judge(s) sitting	Judges Paul Joseph Kelly, Jr., Carlos F. Lucero, Jerome Holmes
Case opinions
Majority	Lucero, joined by Holmes
Concur/dissent	Kelly
Keywords
Utah Constitutional Amendment 3, Marriage, Equal Protection, Same-sex marriage, Sexual Orientation

Stay of judgment ordered, 134 S.Ct. 893 (2014)

Judgment for the plaintiff in district court, 961 F. Supp. 2d 1181 (D. Utah 2013).

Kitchen v. Herbert, 961 F.Supp.2d 1181 (D. Utah 2013), affirmed, 755 F.3d 1193 (10th Cir. 2014); stay granted, 134 S.Ct. 893 (2014); petition for certiorari denied, No. 14-124, 2014 WL 3841263 (Oct. 6, 2014), is the federal case that successfully challenged Utah's constitutional ban on marriage for same-sex couples and similar statutes. Three same-sex couples filed suit in March 2013, naming as defendants Utah Governor Gary R. Herbert, Attorney General John Swallow, and Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen in their official capacities.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Utah found the state's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional in December 2013. Its order that the state cease enforcing its ban took effect immediately. In January 2014, after stays had been denied by the District Court and the Tenth Circuit, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay of the District Court's order pending consideration of the appeal by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.

In June 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court, finding that Utah's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, but stayed their mandate pending petition to the Supreme Court.

In October 6, 2014, the Supreme Court denied the petition for review without comment and the Tenth Circuit lifted its stay, putting into effect its order ending Utah's enforcement of its same-sex marriage ban.

On November 2, 2004, Utah Constitutional Amendment 3, which defined marriage as a union exclusively between a man and woman passed by referendum and became part of the Utah State Constitution.