Varnum v. Brien
| Varnum v. Brien | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
| Full case name | Katherine Varnum, Patricia Hyde, Dawn Barbouroske, Jennifer Barbouroske, Jason Morgan, Charles Swaggerty, David Twombley, Lawrence Hoch, William M. Musser, Otter Dreaming, Ingrid Olson, and Reva Evans vs. Timothy J. Brien,, In His Official Capacities as the Polk County Recorder and Polk County Registrar |
| Decided | April 3, 2009 |
| Citation(s) | 763 N.W.2d 862, (Iowa 2009) |
| Case history | |
| Prior action(s) | Marriage statute declared unconstitutional in Polk County District Court (affirmed) |
| Court membership | |
| Chief Judge | Marsha K. Ternus |
| Associate Judges | Mark S. Cady, Michael J. Streit, David Wiggins, Daryl Hecht, Brent R. Appel, and David L. Baker |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Cady, joined by unanimous |
Varnum v. Brien, 763 N.W.2d 862 (Iowa 2009), was a unanimous decision of the Iowa Supreme Court dated April 3, 2009, that held the state's limitation of marriage to opposite-sex couples violated the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution. It established same-sex marriage in Iowa. In 2007, a lower court had granted summary judgment in favor of six same-sex couples who sued Timothy Brien, Polk County Recorder, for refusing to grant them marriage licenses.
In 2010 Iowa voters defeated the retention of three of the judges responsible for the decision, but in 2012 they retained the one judge who participated in the decision and whose term would otherwise have ended, following various polls showing that a majority of Iowans support marriage equality.
Six same-sex couples went to the Office of the Polk County Recorder in Des Moines, Iowa, at various times between November 2005 and January 2006 in an attempt to apply for marriage licenses. Each couple's application was denied because in each case the couple was composed of two people of the same sex, and Iowa law only permitted couples composed of one man and one woman to marry. The couples filed suit in Polk County District Court, arguing that this law violated certain rights guaranteed by the Iowa constitution.
Judge Robert Hanson of Polk County District Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs on August 30, 2007. He ruled that the marriage statute was unconstitutional, and that the Polk County Recorder was required to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples who otherwise meet the requirements for marriage. Hanson's ruling states, in part, that:
Couples, such as plaintiffs, who are otherwise qualified to marry one another may not be denied licenses to marry or certificates of marriage or in any other way prevented from entering into a civil marriage... by reason of the fact that both persons comprising such a couple are of the same sex.
Judge Hanson issued a stay of his ruling on August 31, 2007, in anticipation of an appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court. One same-sex couple was able to obtain a marriage license in the brief time between Hanson's ruling and the stay.
Polk County appealed Hanson's ruling to the Iowa Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments on December 9, 2008. There were 24 amicus curiae briefs filed with the court. In a unanimous opinion authored by Justice Mark S. Cady, the Court affirmed Hanson's decision on April 3, 2009.
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