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Case Name
Cooper-Harris v. United States
PB-CA-0036
Docket / Court
CV12-0887-CBM ( C.D. Cal. )
State/Territory
California
Case Type(s)
Public Benefits / Government Services
Special Collection
Same-Sex Marriage
Attorney Organization
ACLU of Southern California
Southern Poverty Law Center
Case Summary
On February 1, 2012, a military veteran with multiple sclerosis who married her wife in California in 2008 filed suit challenging DOMA and other laws governing the Department of Veterans Affairs. The plaintiff, represented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the ACLU of Southern California, and ...
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On February 1, 2012, a military veteran with multiple sclerosis who married her wife in California in 2008 filed suit challenging DOMA and other laws governing the Department of Veterans Affairs. The plaintiff, represented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the ACLU of Southern California, and private counsel, alleged that the laws violated her equal protection rights, because she would be entitled to larger monthly disability payments if she were recognized as a legally married person. She sought declaratory relief under 28 U.S.C. §§ 2001-2202.
The House Republican-appointed "Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group" (BLAG) appeared to defend the constitutionality of the challenged statutes. BLAG sought a stay of proceedings while similar issues were resolved in
Golinski v. OPM
, a DOMA case in the 9th Circuit. On August 3, 2012, Judge Consuelo B. Marshall, the district court judge in this case, denied the stay.
In December, after the Supreme Court granted review on the issue in
United States v. Windsor
, BLAG renewed its motion for a stay, pending the outcome in the Supreme Court. The U.S. has declined to defend the constitutionality of the statutes in question, but it filed a motion to dismiss, on the grounds that the Veterans' Judicial Review Act confers exclusive jurisdiction on the VA Secretary over benefits claims, depriving the district court here of jurisdiction to order an award of benefits. The U.S. noted that this plaintiff had already initiated proceedings before the VA (though those proceedings were stalled). On August 29, the court denied the defendant's motion to dismiss.
On March 12, 2014, Judge Marshall declared that DOMA was unconstitutional under the equal protection component of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. The court ruled against sections within DOMA that required a "spouse" or "surviving spouse" to be a member of the opposite sex. The defendants were enjoined from using DOMA to deny recognition of the plaintiff's same-sex marriage, which had been recognized by the State of California.
The case is now closed.
- 11/27/2012
Alex Colbert-Taylor - 06/25/2013
Megan Dolan - 10/25/2015
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Issues and Causes of Action
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Issues
Constitutional Clause
Equal Protection
Defendant-type
Jurisdiction-wide
Discrimination-basis
Sexual orientatation
General
Gay/lesbian/transgender
Marriage
Public benefits (includes, e.g., in-state tuition, govt. jobs)
Causes of Action
Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2201
Case Details
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Defendant(s)
Department of Veterans Affairs
Plaintiff Description
Same-sex couple seeking recognition of their marriage by the Department of Veterans Affairs, so that the non-veteran member of the couple can get the health benefits to which different-sex spouses are entitled.
Indexed Lawyer Organizations
ACLU of Southern California
Southern Poverty Law Center
Class action status sought
No
Class action status granted
Moot
Filed Pro Se
No
Prevailing Party
Plaintiff
Public Int. Lawyer
Yes
Nature of Relief
Declaratory Judgment
Injunction / Injunctive-like Settlement
Source of Relief
Litigation
Filed
02/01/2012
Case Closing Year
2014
Case Ongoing
No
Additional Resources
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Documents
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Court
Docket(s)
C.D. Cal.
03/13/2014
2:12-cv-887
PB-CA-0036-9000.pdf
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Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
General Documents
C.D. Cal.
02/14/1994
IN CHAMBERS/OFF THE RECORD (Order) [ECF# 50]
PB-CA-0036-0004.pdf
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Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
C.D. Cal.
02/01/2012
Complaint for Declaratory, Injunctive, and Other Relief [ECF# 1]
PB-CA-0036-0001.pdf
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Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
C.D. Cal.
05/22/2012
ORDER GRANTING BIPARTISAN LEGAL ADVISORY GROUP OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES’ LEAVE TO INTERVENE AND WAIVER OF LOCAL RULE 83-2.3 AS TO BANCROFT PLLC [ECF# 38]
PB-CA-0036-0003.pdf
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Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
C.D. Cal.
10/24/2012
Protective Order [ECF# 54]
PB-CA-0036-0002.pdf
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Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
C.D. Cal.
02/08/2013
ORDER DENYING INTERVENORDEFENDANT’S MOTION TO EXCLUDE THE EXPERT TESTIMONY OF DR. LAWRENCE J. KORB AND MAJ. GEN. (RET.) DENNIS LAICH [ECF# 82]
PB-CA-0036-0005.pdf
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Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
C.D. Cal.
02/20/2013
Memorandum in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF# 84]
PB-CA-0036-0006.pdf
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Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
C.D. Cal.
08/29/2013
Order Granting Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF# 140]
(965 F.Supp.2d 1139)
PB-CA-0036-0007.pdf
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WESTLAW
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LEXIS
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Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
People
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Judges
Marshall, Consuelo Bland
(C.D. Cal.)
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PB-CA-0036-0002 | PB-CA-0036-0003 | PB-CA-0036-0004 | PB-CA-0036-0005 | PB-CA-0036-0007 | PB-CA-0036-9000
Wistrich, Andrew J.
(C.D. Cal.) [Magistrate]
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PB-CA-0036-9000
Plaintiff's Lawyers
Ali, Rubina
(New York)
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PB-CA-0036-0006 | PB-CA-0036-9000
Benedetto, Matthew D.
(California)
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PB-CA-0036-0006 | PB-CA-0036-9000
Lee, Randall R.
(California)
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PB-CA-0036-0001 | PB-CA-0036-0006 | PB-CA-0036-9000
Levin, Joseph J. Jr.
(Alabama)
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PB-CA-0036-0006 | PB-CA-0036-9000
Marder, Eugene
(California)
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PB-CA-0036-0006 | PB-CA-0036-9000
Noble, Daniel S.
(New York)
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PB-CA-0036-9000
Romero, Adam P.
(New York)
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PB-CA-0036-0006 | PB-CA-0036-9000
Short, Caren E.
(Alabama)
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PB-CA-0036-0006 | PB-CA-0036-9000
Sun, Christine Patricia
(California)
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PB-CA-0036-0006 | PB-CA-0036-9000
Defendant's Lawyers
Bartolomucci, H. Christopher
(District of Columbia)
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PB-CA-0036-9000
Clement, Paul D.
(District of Columbia)
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PB-CA-0036-9000
Davenport, Christine
(District of Columbia)
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PB-CA-0036-9000
Dugan, Conor Brendan
(District of Columbia)
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PB-CA-0036-9000
Kircher, Kerry W.
(District of Columbia)
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PB-CA-0036-9000
Konar, Kirsten W.
(District of Columbia)
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PB-CA-0036-9000
Lin, Jean
(District of Columbia)
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PB-CA-0036-9000
McGinley, Michael H.
(District of Columbia)
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PB-CA-0036-9000
Nelson, Nicholas J.
(District of Columbia)
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PB-CA-0036-9000
Pittard, William
(District of Columbia)
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PB-CA-0036-9000
Tatelman, Todd B.
(District of Columbia)
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PB-CA-0036-9000
Walker, Mary Beth
(District of Columbia)
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PB-CA-0036-9000
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