On December 19, 2013, two same-sex couples residing in Oregon who wished to have a state-recognized marriage filed a lawsuit in the District of Oregon U.S. District Court under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the state of Oregon. The plaintiffs were represented by attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and sought a declaration that Oregon laws banning same-sex marriage were unconstitutional, a permanent injunction requiring the state to grant to same-sex couples the same full and equal recognition, rights, and privileges given to different-sex couples and recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages, and an award of costs of suit and reasonable attorneys' fees.

The plaintiffs claimed that by prohibiting residents from entering into a same-sex marriage, and by refusing to recognize legal same-sex marriages that took place out-of-state, the state of Oregon was violating the plaintiffs' constitutional rights under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses. They also alleged that the ban injured them by denying them medical and government benefits available to married same-sex couples, as well as interfering with their dignity, autonomy, and family integrity. The case was consolidated with Geiger v. Kitzhaber (PB-OR-0004 in this Clearinghouse).

The plaintiffs filed a motion for summary judgment a week later on February 18, 2014. Before the Court ruled on that motion, an anti-same-sex-marriage group, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), moved to intervene to defend the ban. NOM appealed the denial of their intervention motion and sought a stay of the injunction pending disposition of that appeal. That stay was denied, first by the District Court on May 19, 2014, then by the Court of Appeals that same day, and then by the Supreme Court on June 4, 2014.

On May 19, 2014, Judge Michael J. McShane granted summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs and found that there was no legitimate state interest that would justify the denial of the full and equal recognition to the marriages of same-sex couples. The court declared that Oregon laws banning same-sex marriages violated the Equal Protection Clause and were unconstitutional, and permanently enjoined the defendants from enforcing them. The order also required that the defendants recognize same-sex-marriages formalized in other states. Rummell v. Kitzhaber, 2014 WL 2054264 (D. Oregon 2014).

The Rummell plaintiffs reached a settlement with the defendants regarding attorney's fees and costs that was not disclosed to the Court. The Court approved the Geiger plaintiffs' agreement with the defendants over attorney's fees, by which the defendants agreed to pay $132,690 in total. The case is now closed.

Megan Dolan - 07/24/2014
Eva Richardson - 01/08/2019


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