Federal judge rules Alaska's same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional
Last edited Sun Oct 12, 2014, 10:34 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: ADN
A federal judge ruled Sunday that Alaska’s ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional, paving the way for gay couples to begin marrying in the state for the first time.
“The court finds that Alaska’s ban on same-sex marriage and refusal to recognize same sex marriages lawfully entered in other states is unconstitutional as a deprivation of basic due process and equal protection principles under the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Burgess wrote in a order in the case Hamby v. Parnell, released Sunday.
The Hamby suit was filed in May by five same-sex couples. It challenged the state’s constitutional amendment limiting marriage to one man and one woman, approved by voters in 1998.
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“We’re completely overjoyed,” Shortell said. “It’s an immediate injunction from further enforcement of the (law banning same-sex marriage), so people are going to start getting married.”
Read more: http://www.adn.com/article/20141012/federal-judge-rules-alaskas-same-sex-marriage-ban-unconstitutional
Shannyn Moore:Oh my goodness! I live in a state with gay marriage!!!
Burgess was nominated by George W. Bush on July 28, 2005 to the seat on the United States District Court for the District of Alaska vacated by James Keith Singleton, Jr..
http://judgepedia.org/Timothy_Burgess
Federal judge strikes down Alaska same-sex marriage ban
http://www.ktuu.com/news/news/federal-judge-strikes-down-alaska-samesex-marriage-ban/29081512
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In his decision for Matthew Hamby and Christopher Shelden, Burgess found that previous Supreme Court decisions have shown that “rights not explicitly mentioned in the Bill of Rights can be protected by substantive due process.” He likened his decision to a ruling by the high court allowing interracial marriage, in which justices relied on inherent characteristics of marriage to allow interracial unions instead of decreeing them to be the law of the land.
“Rather, the decision hinged on the determination that the freedom to marry, without an additional descriptor, ‘resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State,’” Burgess wrote. “In this way, the Supreme Court found interracial marriage ‘to be an aspect of liberty protected against state inferference by the substantive component of due process.’”
Burgess went on to state that his primary goal was not to assess the popularity of same-sex marriage, but rather to determine whether Hamby and Shelden had been treated unfairly by Alaska’s same-sex marriage ban -- an act which falls afoul of the U.S. Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment, guaranteeing citizens equal protection under the law.
“For many years, there have been powerful voices condemning homesexual conduct as immoral, but the Court’s obligation in this case is not to determine or mandate a particular moral code, but rather ‘to define the liberty of all,’” Burgess wrote. “Alaska’s laws prohibiting same-sex marriage ‘usurp, disregard, and disrespect’ the fundamental right of all homosexuals to choose who to marry; a right of liberty, privacy and association freely given to heterosexuals.”
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-alaska-same-sex-marriage-20141012-story.html
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Gov. Sean Parnell's office told the Associated Press the state would appeal.
Alaska could ask the 9th Circuit to stay the judge's ruling, pending the appeal. But since the 9th Circuit already has ruled on the issue in cases from Nevada and Idaho, Alaska's chances are slim.
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In his ruling, Burgess, appointed by President George W. Bush, followed a path taken by several dozen federal judges over the last year who have considered the same-sex marriage issue -- ruling that marriage constitutes a "fundamental right" that the government can restrict only for compelling reasons and that the arguments in favor of a ban on same-sex unions do not hold up under scrutiny.
= new reply since forum marked as read
She's going to have her drunk children try to punch everyone in the state now!
Same-sex marriage rights are sweeping the US. Here's where each state stands.
It's going to be a good Monday for the comedians!
I can hear Jerry Prevo and Jim Minnery's heads exploding all the way from East Anchorage. (Alaskans will understand.)
A little Prevo, not a real shaker at all!!
finally takes up a marriage equality case and rules in favor of the bans, 5-4. 
Vox has all the states listed in a new article
http://www.vox.com/2014/10/6/6110151/where-is-gay-marriage-legal-state-equality-status-courts
https://twitter.com/suzannacaldwell
With Alaska's gay marriage ban overturned, couples file for marriage licenses
http://www.adn.com/article/20141013/alaskas-gay-marriage-ban-overturned-couples-file-marriage-licenses#.VDwWYAzblAU.twitter
Courtney Lamb beams as she and Stephanie Pearson are the first to finish applying for a marriage license in person at the state Bureau of Vital Statistics on Monday, Oct. 13, 2014 in Anchorage.
Two same-sex couples were married in Barrow on Monday, October 13th, in the afternoon by Magistrate Mary Treiber, who waived the 3 day waiting period usually necessary following an application for a marriage license.
After hearing Sunday that the ban had been overturned Kristine Hilderbrand and Sara Ellis checked on Monday morning to apply for a license. It was a spur of the moment thing, as they had plans to be married in another state in the near future. When they were told they could be married today if they wanted, the rush was on. And when partners Kelly Cahoon and Bernice Oyagak heard about it they jumped on the same idea, also preempting a wedding scheduled for December in another state.
At about 4PM in the Barrow Court, Magistrate Mary Treiber pronounced Kristine and Sarah to be married. At about 4:30 PM she pronounced Kelly and Bernice to be married.
By the time the ceremonies were actually performed there was already suspician that these must be the first same-sex marriages in Alaska. It was perhaps an hour later that the Alaska Dispatch news confirmed that to be true to their knowledge.
I did formal photographs for the weddings of Kristine's younger and older sisters, so there was no question about if I should take a camera.
From left to right, Magistrate Mary Treiber, Kristine Hilderbrand and Sarah Ellis:
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From left to right, Magristrate Mary Treiber, Kelly Cahoon and Bernice Oyagak:
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