U.S. District Court for Oregon strikes down state’s same-sex marriage ban

U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. McShane for the U.S. District Court for Oregon struck down that state’s sane-sex marriage ban today. Same-sex marriages were allowed to proceed immediately this afternoon.

Lyle Denniston at SCOTUSblog.com reports, Oregon’s same-sex marriage ban nullified:

In a ruling that might never be tested in an appeal, a federal judge in Oregon at midday Monday ruled (.pdf) that the state’s ten-year-old ban on same-sex marriage is invalid under the federal Constitution.  U.S. District Judge Michael J. McShane of Eugene did so by applying the most relaxed constitutional test.

The judge put his ruling into effect immediately, thus allowing county officials to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, unless a higher court steps in to block it.  It is not clear at this point that anyone has the legal right to pursue an appeal; state officials refused to defend the ban and, in fact, added their support to the challenge by four same-sex couples.

The only other entity that has come forward to provide a defense — the National Organization for Marriage, a strong opponent of same-sex marriage — was denied a role in the case by Judge McShane last Wednesday.  It is now seeking to appeal that denial to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, but — before Judge McShane issued his decision — the Ninth Circuit on Monday morning refused to postpone his denial of that group’s entry into the case.

The judge noted that a Ninth Circuit panel had ruled in January that claims of discrimination based on sexual orientation had to be judged by a more exacting standard of judicial review — “heightened scrutiny.”  But he said that decision was not yet final and, in any event, the Oregon ban had to be struck down because it and related laws “cannot withstand the most relaxed level of scrutiny” — that is, “rational basis.”

Oregon’s ban was approved as Amendment 36 by the state’s voters in 2004, by a margin of fifty-seven percent to forty-three percent.  It was only as the case challenging that ban began moving forward in federal court that state officials abandoned any defense of it.

Judge McShane ticked off the arguments in favor of maintaining marriage as available only to opposite-sex couples, and rejected each one of them.   He also declined to accept social science studies which found that children would be better off with opposite-sex parents.  “Same-gender couples make just as good parents as opposite-gender couples,” he wrote.

“Expanding the embrace of civil marriage to gay and lesbian couples will not burden any legitimate state interest,” he concluded.

The Oregonian reports same-sex couples are getting married this afternoon. Same-sex marriages in Oregon could begin as early as Monday afternoon. Here isa link to videos. Gay marriage begins in Oregon (videos).

This is the second Ninth Circuit Court case in the past week, the other case in the state of Idaho (which has been stayed by the Ninth Circuit pending appeal). The Nevada same-sex marriage appeal before the Ninth Circuit is still waiting to be rescheduled for oral argument.

UPDATE: Breaking news from Utah. Judge Rules Utah Must Recognize Marriage Licenses Issued To Gay Couples: