On January 14, 2014, three women who wished to marry their incarcerated (male) partners filed a lawsuit in the Western District of Missouri U.S. District Court under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Moniteau County Recorder of Deeds of the state of Missouri. The plaintiffs, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), asked the court to declare that Mo. Rev. Stat. § 451.040.2 (a Missouri law that required both signers of a marriage license to appear in front of the recorder of deeds) is unconstitutional, issue an injunction requiring the defendant to issue marriage licenses to plaintiffs and others engaged to marry individuals who are unable to appear, and award the plaintiffs costs of suit and reasonable attorneys' fees.

The plaintiffs asserted that marriage is a fundamental right protected by the United States Constitution that is not changed by the incarcerated status of their fiancées. They claimed Missouri law, which requires that marriage license applications be signed "in the presence of the recorder of deeds or their deputy," violated this right and deprived plaintiffs of important federal and state benefits and privileges afforded to married couples.

On February 6, 2014, the Court (District Judge Gary A. Fenner) decided in favor of the plaintiffs. 2014 WL 572316. It ruled that the requirement that marriage licenses be signed "in the presence of the recorder of deeds or their deputy," was unconstitutional as applied to situations where an applicant for a marriage license is physically unable to appear in the presence of the recorder of deeds or their deputy due to incarceration. Amos v. Higgins, 2014 WL 572316 (W.D. Missouri 2014). The Court further enjoined defendants from requiring the presence of applicants who could not physically appear in front of the defendants due to incarceration, and also required defendants to issue licenses to applicants who presented reasonable written proof as to the authenticity of the signature of an applicant on a marriage license application and reasonable verified proof that the applicant is physically unable to appear in the presence of the recorder.

Megan Dolan - 07/22/2014


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