On February 12, 2014, four married, same-sex couples and a nonprofit organization filed a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Louisiana against the State of Louisiana. The plaintiffs, represented by private counsel, sought a declaration that any Louisiana laws that do not recognize the legal marriages of same-sex couples performed in other jurisdictions are unconstitutional and that the enforcement of such laws violates citizens' right to free speech. They also sought to enjoin enforcement of such laws, require the defendants in their official capacities to recognize the plaintiffs' marriages as valid and enforceable under Louisiana law, and award the plaintiffs reasonable attorney's fees and costs of suit.

The Louisiana Anti-Recognition Laws prohibited Louisiana officials from recognizing the marriages of same-sex couples entered into in another jurisdiction where same-sex marriages were legal. The plaintiff claimed that the Louisiana Anti-Recognition Laws violated their rights under the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the United States constitution. The plaintiffs also alleged that the laws infringed upon their freedom of speech.

This case was consolidated with a similar Louisiana case, Robicheaux v. Caldwell, on March 18, 2014.

On September 3, 2014, Magistrate Judge Michael North entered judgment in favor of the defendants. Robicheaux v. Caldwell, 2 F. Supp. 3d 910 (E.D. La. 2014). The Court found that the State of Louisiana had a legitimate interest under a rational basis standard of review for addressing the meaning of marriage through the democratic process, and that the plaintiffs had failed to establish a genuine dispute regarding a First Amendment violation. The order denied the plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment and granted the defendants' motion for the same.

On September 4, 2014, the plaintiffs appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. While this appeal was under submission, the Supreme Court decided Obergefell v. Hodges, 135 S.Ct. 2584 (2015), (PB-OH-0003 in this Clearinghouse), which held that the right to marry is a fundamental right under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment and that same-sex couples may not be deprived of that right. Thus, on July 1, 2015, the Fifth Circuit reversed the District Court's decision and remanded for entry of judgment in favor of the plaintiffs. Robicheaux v. Caldwell, 791 F.3d 616 (5th Cir. 2015). The case is now closed.

Megan Dolan - 10/23/2014
Priyah Kaul - 12/04/2014
Eva Richardson - 01/07/2019


compress summary