On July 9, 2013, several lesbian and gay couples, one widow, and two teenage children of one of the same-sex couples filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The plaintiffs were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and private counsel, and they asked the court to declare that Pennsylvania laws banning same-sex marriage were unconstitutional, enjoin the enforcement of laws banning same-sex marriage, and award the plaintiffs with cost of suit and reasonable attorneys fees.

The plaintiffs alleged that the ban violated their rights to Due Process and Equal Protection and that they suffered harm by being denied tax and employment benefits available to opposite-sex couples, along with the social stigma of not being allowed to marry.

On May 20, 2014, the Court (Judge John E. Jones III) granted summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs and declared Pennsylvania laws that ban same-sex marriage violated the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses, and permanently enjoined their enforcement. Whitewood v. Corbett, 2014 WL 2058105 (M.D. Pennsylvania 2014).

A county clerk moved to intervene on June 6, 2014. This motion was denied by the court and the clerk appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (USCA). The USCA submitted this case to a panel of the court for possible summary action. On July 7, 2014, the USCA affirmed the District Court's (Judge Jones) denial of the motion to intervene. The case was closed on February 3, 2015.

Megan Dolan - 06/25/2014
Thomas Topping - 03/02/2015


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