On Wednesday, March 12, 2014, U.S. Federal Judge Kimball heard oral arguments in the ACLU of Utah’s case Evans et al. v. State of Utah et al. We argued that Utah must recognize the marriages of all the same-sex couples who were given county licenses, and legally wed, after a Federal Court decision on December 20, 2013, declared that Utah’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples is unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay of that decision on January 6, 2014, halting all further same-sex marriages pending appeal. During that 17 day period over 1,000 couples were legally married.
We felt that the hearing went well. The judge asked good questions from both sides and is now considering the arguments. We await his decision with great anticipation.
We are grateful for our courageous plaintiffs and our co-counsels, Josh Block of the national ACLU LGBT Project, and the law firm of Strindberg & Scholnick.
See some photos of the plaintiffs and attorneys after the hearing >>
More information about this case, including all documents filed in court >>
Salt Lake Tribune: Utah’s decision to freeze same-sex marriages debated in court (3/12/14) >>
Fox 13 Video: Judge to decide if Utah will recognize same-sex marriages (3/12/14) >>
Deseret News: Utah recognition of same-sex marriage in judge's hands (3/12/14) >>
