PUERTO RICO: First Circuit Finally Rules Marriage Ban To Be Unconstitutional

Earlier this year the First Circuit punted on the appeal of Puerto Rico's marriage case, saying that it would wait until SCOTUS rules. Today we finally got that decision. Via Lambda Legal:

Today’s decision provides further recognition of the dignity and equality of LGBT people in Puerto Rico. We applaud the First Circuit for recognizing that Puerto Rico’s marriage ban is unconstitutional, and reversing the lower court ruling. We also commend the Puerto Rico government for joining in the call to end the marriage ban. Certainly, after the historic ruling from the Supreme Court, this ruling from the First Circuit was not unexpected. There remains no legal or moral justification for forcing same-sex couples in Puerto Rico to wait any longer to have their love and commitment recognized by the state. The Governor of Puerto Rico already signed an executive order on June 26 that marriages will begin 15 days after the Supreme Court ruling, but now that the First Circuit has agreed that the marriage ban is unconstitutional, same-sex couples should be able to marry now. To do otherwise is to put form over substance.

First Circuit Punts On Puerto Rico Marriage

PUERTO RICO: Liberty Counsel Seeks To File Brief In Marriage Equality Case

Last week the Puerto Rican government announced that it was dropping its opposition to same-sex marriage. Enter, as always, the Liberty Counsel:

Today Liberty Counsel filed a motion seeking permission to file an Amicus Curiae brief at the First Circuit Court of Appeals in defense of Puerto Rico's law memorializing that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. Liberty Counsel's brief is particularly important because Solicitor General Margarita Mercado-Echegaray abandoned her duty to defend Puerto Rico's laws.

Initially the Solicitor General successfully defended Puerto Rico's marriage law at the district court, but when she filed the brief at the court of appeals, she announced that the Commonwealth had changed positions and would no longer defend the marriage law. Liberty Counsel is having to seek the court's permission to file the brief, because one of the plaintiffs has refused to consent.

Liberty Counsel’s position shows how same-sex marriage leads to the devaluation of both a mother and father, who each provide a unique contribution to the family. Studies have estimated that $229 billion dollars in government spending between 1970 and 1996 could be directly attributed to the breakdown of the family culture and its resulting social consequences.

“Homosexual activists are not only seeking to push their values into Puerto Rican laws, but they are attempting to mute anyone with a different opinion. Marriage is the union of a man and a woman, and no court has the right to undermine it,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel.

Liberty Counsel is representing the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, which claims to represent 500,000 churches globally. Perhaps obviously, the Liberty Counsel's losing track record is rather spectacular.

PUERTO RICO: Government Considers Ending Opposition To Same-Sex Marriage

Via El Nuevo Dia:

The government of Puerto Rico is contemplating announcing this week a change of position and withdrawing its support for the Puerto Rican statute that recognizes marriage only as the union between a man and a woman. The position of the government of Puerto Rico is under review in the face of the written arguments that will be presented no later than Friday as part of the appeal process of the federal case in which five gay couples asked the U.S. judicial system to validate the marriage rights that some of them achieved in states of the United States and that for others would let them marry on the Island.

But the mere decision to reevaluate the public policy of the Executive of Puerto Rico points to the likelihood that the administration of Alejandro García Padilla is getting on the wave that has validated marriage between couples of the same sex in 37 states and Washington, D.C. "I'd prefer not to comment on any final decision," said Justice Secretary César Miranda, in an interview with El Nuevo Día. Asked if they are rethinking their support for the statute that only recognizes marriage as the union between one man and one women, Miranda responsed that "you can say that."

Puerto Rico is under the jurisdiction of the First Circuit Court of Appeals, which set the briefing schedule in the marriage equality case back in December.

PUERTO RICO: First Circuit Court Sets Briefing Schedule For Marriage Case

Details.

PUERTO RICO: Lambda Legal To Appeal "Aberrant" Marriage Lawsuit Dismissal

Via press release from Lambda Legal:

"The court's ruling directly conflicts with the wave of recent decisions finding these marriage bans unconstitutional and perpetuates the discrimination and harm done to same-sex Puerto Rican couples and their families," said Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, Staff Attorney for Lambda Legal. "It defies the unmistakable import of the Windsor decision and flies in the face of the blizzard of rulings of the last year, the reasoned rulings of the Courts of Appeals for the 4th, 7th, 9th and 10th Circuits, and the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to let stand the rulings striking down five bans similar to Puerto Rico's. One struggles to understand how this judge came to a different conclusion. We will, of course, appeal this ruling to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals," Gonzalez-Pagan said. "All families in Puerto Rico need the protections of marriage."

On March 25th, 2014, Ada Mercedes Conde Vidal and Ivonne Álvarez Vélez filed a lawsuit to compel Puerto Rico to recognize their marriage, which they entered into in Massachusetts. In June, Lambda Legal joined and amended that lawsuit to include four more plaintiff couples, two seeking recognition of marriages entered into in other jurisdictions and two who seek to marry in Puerto Rico, as well as an organizational plaintiff, Puerto Rico Para Tod@s. "It is outrageous that loving committed LGBT couples and their families have been deprived of their civil rights and dignity," said Pedro Julio Serrano, founder and president of Puerto Rico Para Tod@s. "We are hopeful that justice will prevail and that the equality promised by the Constitution will be upheld." Lambda Legal attorneys Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, Hayley Gorenberg, and Jael Humphrey are handling the case, joined by co-counsel Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, local counsel Celina Romany-Siaca of the Law Offices of Celina Romany, and Ada Conde Vidal representing herself and her wife.

Read more about the case.