On September 6, 2013, a lesbian couple filed suit against the state of Pennsylvania in Commonwealth Court. Plaintiffs sought declaratory relief, alleging that two provisions of Pennsylvania's Marriage Law (23 Pa.C.S. §§ 1102 and 1704) violated the state constitution. The two provisions banned same-sex marriage and treated as void the marriages of same-sex couples validly entered into in other jurisdictions.

On May 20, 2014, in the case of Whitewood v. Wolf (No. 1:13-cv-1861), Judge John E. Jones III held that 23 Pa.C.S. §§ 1102 and 1704 violated the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. The following day, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett announced via press release that the Commonwealth would not appeal the court's order.

On May 23, 2014, the defendant moved to dismiss the case for mootness, arguing that there was no longer a case or controversy to be decided by the court. On June 20, 2014, the court, in a per curiam decision, denied defendant's application to dismiss. It suspended the case pending final resolution of Whitewood v. Wolf, including all appeals by those seeking to intervene in the matter. As of March 9, 2015, the case was still pending.

Priyah Kaul - 03/09/2015


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