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Brenner v. Scott

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Brenner v. Scott
Grimsley v. Scott
File:USDC-seal.gif
No. 4:14-cv-107
No. 4:14-cv-138
CourtU.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida
DecidedAugust 21, 2014
Citation999 F. Supp. 2d 1278
Case history
Prior actionsNorthern District of Florida
  • Apr. 21, 2014: Cases ordered consolidated.
Subsequent actionsU.S. Eleventh Circuit
  • Sep. 19, 2014: Appealed as Brenner v. Armstrong, No. 14-14061 and -14066, briefing ordered.
Holding
Florida's statutory and constitutional bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional as they violate the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses.
Court membership
Judges sittingRobert L. Hinkle, U.S.D.J.

Brenner v. Scott and its companion case, Grimsley v. Scott, are the first two cases where a U.S. district court has found Florida's same-sex marriage bans unconstitutional. On August 21, 2014, the court issued a preliminary injunction that prevents that state from enforcing its bans and then temporarily stayed the injunction until stays are lifted in the three same-sex marriage cases then petitioning for a writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court–Bostic, Bishop, and Kitchen–and for 91 days thereafter.

The state defendants have appealed to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, where it is styled Brenner v. Armstrong. The preliminary injunction took effect on January 6, 2015.

District court proceedings

Pictured here are the plaintiffs in the same-gender marriage lawsuit. From left to right- Steve Schlairet, Chuck Jones, James Brenner, Ozzie Russ.

Civil rights attorneys Bill Sheppard (Sheppard, White, Kachergus, & DeMaggio P.A) and Sam Jacobson (Bledsoe, Jacobson, Schmidt, Wright, & Wilkinson) filed Brenner v. Scott on behalf of a Leon County, Florida, same-sex couple seeking to have their Canadian marriage recognized by the state. Both plaintiffs in this case are state employees; James Brenner works for the state forest service and Charles Jones works in the state department of education. They complained of being unable to designate each other as a spouse in the state retirement benefits program because of Florida's nonrecognition of and refusal to license same-sex marriage.[1][2] A second couple (Steven Schlairet & Ozzie Russ) were added to the Brenner suit on March 16, 2014. Steven is a retired hospital administrator, and Ozzie manages a local fast food restaurant. This couple sought to obtain a marriage license from the Washington County Court House, in Chipley, Florida. As a result of the Clerk of Courts' refusal to issue the marriage license to this couple, they joined the Brenner lawsuit.[3]

Civil rights attorneys and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed Grimsley v. Scott on behalf of a Miami-Dade County-based LGBT-advocacy group named SAVE and eight same-sex couples seeking recognition of their marriages legally established in other jurisdictions.[4][5]

Both cases were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida and assigned to U.S. District Judge Robert Lewis Hinkle. Brenner was initially filed on February 28, 2014, and Grimsley on March 13, 2014. Each case names Florida Governor Rick Scott as the lead defendant. On April 21, 2014, Judge Hinkle ordered the Brenner and Grimsley cases consolidated for case-management purposes, though they remain separate on the docket.

Ruling

On August 21, 2014, Judge Hinkle issued a ruling in Brenner and Grimsley that granted the same-sex couple plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction. In ordering the injunction, Judge Hinkle found that Florida's statutory and constitutional bans on same-sex marriage were unconstitutional:[6][7]

This order holds that marriage is a fundamental right as that term is used in cases arising under the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses, that Florida's same-sex marriage provisions thus must be reviewed under strict scrutiny, and that, when so reviewed, the provisions are unconstitutional.

Judge Hinkle added:[8]

The institution of marriage survived when bans on interracial marriage were struck down, and the institution will survive when bans on same-sex marriage are struck down. Liberty, tolerance, and respect are not zero-sum concepts. Those who enter opposite-sex marriages are harmed not at all when others, including these plaintiffs, are given the liberty to choose their own life partners and are shown the respect that comes with formal marriage. Tolerating views with which one disagrees is a hallmark of civilized society.[8]

Stay of injunction

Judge Hinkle's injunction ordered the Secretary of the Florida Department of Management Services and the Florida Surgeon General "and their officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys" to cease enforcing Florida's ban on same-sex marriage. It also ordered the Clerk of Court of Washington County to issue a marriage license to two of the plaintiffs. He issued a temporary stay of his preliminary injunction, pending resolution of the three same-sex marriage cases that were then petitioning for a writ of certiorari before the U.S. Supreme Court, and for 91 days thereafter: Bostic v. Schaefer, Bishop v. Smith, and Kitchen v. Herbert. He also removed the governor and attorney general as defendants.

In a separate part of his injunction, which he did not stay, he ordered the state to revise the death certificate of Carol Goldwasser to include the name of her wife, Arlene Goldberg, one of the plaintiffs. They had married in New York in 2011.[9]

On October 7, 2014, following the U.S. Supreme Court's rejection the previous day of certiorari in Bostic, Bishop, and Kitchen, the Brenner and Grimsley plaintiffs filed separate motions asking the Judge Hinkle to lift his stay before the 91-day period under the original order expired. The state defendants indicated that they object to lifting the stay.[10] Judge Hinkle rejected that request on November 5,[11] and on November 19 the state asked the Eleventh Circuit to extend Hinkle's stay pending appeal.[12] The Eleventh Circuit panel of Frank Hull, Charles Wilson, and Adalberto Jordan refused that request on December 3.[13]

On December 15, the state asked Justice Clarence Thomas, as Circuit Justice for the Eleventh Circuit, to stay Hinkle's preliminary injunction.[14] Attorney General Pam Bondi based her request on the need to maintain state-wide uniformity while Hinkle's injunction is directed to just one of Florida's sixty-seven clerks of court.[15] Justice Thomas referred the request to the full court which, on December 19, rejected Florida's request with only Justices Scalia and Thomas openly dissenting.[16]

On December 23, the Washington County Clerk of Court, a named defendant whom Hinkle's injunction orders to issue a marriage license to one of the plaintiff couples, filed an emergency request asking Hinkle if she was also required to issue marriage licenses to all qualified same-sex couples once his injunction takes effect.[17] On December 24, Judge Hinkle issued an order in which he noted that his injunction applied to the Secretary of the Department of Management Services, the Surgeon General, and their officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys—and others in active concert or participation with any of them. He gave the Secretary until December 29 to explain whether he believes the injunction as written applies to each court clerk.[18] Two briefs for the plaintiff same-sex couples told the court that all Florida clerks of court act "in concert" with the state defendants, that the statute that penalizes a clerk for issuing a marriage license to a same-sex couple was unenforceable because it was based on the statute the court ruled unconstitutional, and that the court could extend its order to cover all Florida clerks if necessary.[19][20] In the brief for the Secretary of DMS, Attorney General Bondi said the court could make its order more specific and that a clerk is an "independent constitutional officer" not subject to the Secretary.[21] An amicus brief filed by Florida Family Action said that the injunction as written applied to one clerk and that the district court lacked jurisdiction to modify it since the case had been appealed.[22] On January 1, 2015, Judge Hinkle explained the scope of his injunction, writing that the Constitution rather than his order authorizes all Florida clerks to issue licenses to same-sex couples and that while clerks are free to interpret his ruling differently they should anticipate lawsuits if they fail to issue such licenses.[23]

In response, the law firm advising the Florida Association of Court Clerks reversed its earlier position and recommended that all clerks issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.[24] Between the time of Judge Hinkle's decision and its implementation, clerks in thirteen counties–Baker, Calhoun, Clay, Duval, Franklin, Holmes, Jackson, Liberty, Okaloosa, Pasco, Santa Rosa, Wakulla, and Washington–announced they would issue such licenses but no longer provide courthouse wedding services to avoid having to officiate at the wedding of a same-sex couple.[25]

Hinkle's stay expired on January 6, 2015, and same-sex marriage became legal throughout Florida.[26]

Court of Appeals proceedings

With Scott removed as a defendant, Dr. John H. Armstrong, the state's Surgeon General and Secretary of Health became the lead defendant and the case Brenner v. Armstrong. He and the remaining defendants appealed to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.[27] All briefings were completed in December 2014[28] when the state declined its right to reply to the plaintiffs.[29] The court has yet to schedule oral argument.[30]

See also

References

  1. ^ Schoettler, Jim (March 3, 2014). "Jacksonville civil rights attorneys challenge Florida laws refusing to recognize same-sex marriages". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  2. ^ "Couple files federal lawsuit challenging Florida's ban on same-sex marriage". LGBTQ Nation. March 6, 2014.
  3. ^ Pantazi, Andrew (December 3, 2014). "Gay marriage could be real for many by Jan. 6, barring Supreme Court action". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  4. ^ "SAVE & ACLU file marriage recognition lawsuit". Safeguarding American Values for Everyone. March 13, 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  5. ^ Rothaus, Steven (March 13, 2014). "Eight gay couples sue Florida to recognize their legal marriages". Miami Herald. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
  6. ^ Sweeney, Dan (August 21, 2014). "Same-sex marriage ban struck down in Florida federal court". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  7. ^ Snow, Justin (August 21, 2014). "Federal judge rules Florida same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional". Metro Weekly. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  8. ^ a b Robert L. Hinkle, U.S. District Judge (21 August 2014). "Order Denying the Motion to Dismiss, Granting a Preliminary Injunction, and Temporarily Staying the Injunction, Brenner v. Scott, No. 4:14-cv-107, and Grimsley v. Scott, No. 4:14-cv-138". U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. Scribd.com. PACER Document 74.
  9. ^ Stutzman, Rene (August 21, 2014). "Tallahassee federal judge throws out Florida's ban on same-sex marriage". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  10. ^ "Brenner v. Scott: Plaintiff's Motion to Dissolve Stay". United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida. October 7, 2014.
  11. ^ Anderson, Curt (November 5, 2014). "US judge won't lift stay in Florida gay marriage". Houston Chronicle. Associated Press. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  12. ^ "Motion to Extend Stay". Scribd.com. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
  13. ^ "Order - Motion to stay pending appeal denied". Scribd.com. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  14. ^ Johnson, Chris (December 15, 2014). "Florida seeks hold on same-sex marriages from Supreme Court". Washington Blade. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
  15. ^ Bondi, PamelaJo (December 15, 2014). "Attorney General Pam Bondi News Release". Florida Office of the Attorney General. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
  16. ^ Snow, Justin (December 19, 2014). "Supreme Court allows Florida same-sex marriages to proceed". Metro Weekly. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  17. ^ "Emergency Motion for Clarification". Scribd.com. U.S. District Court for Northern Florida. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
  18. ^ "Order Setting Procedures on the Emergency Motion to Clarify". Scribd.com. U.S. District Court for Northern Florida. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
  19. ^ "Brenner Plaintiffs' Response". Scribd.com. U.S. District Court for Northern Florida. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  20. ^ "Grimsley Plaintiffs' Response". Scribd.com. U.S. District Court for Northern Florida. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  21. ^ "FMS Secretary's Response". Scribd.com. U.S. District Court for Northern Florida. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  22. ^ "Amicus Florida Family Action's Memorandum of Law". Scribd.com. U.S. District Court for Northern Florida. December 29, 2014.
  23. ^ "Order on the Scope of the Preliminary Injunction". Scribd.com. U.S. District Court for Northern Florida. January 1, 2015.
  24. ^ Rothaus, Steve (January 1, 2015). "Federal ruling clears way for same-sex marriage in Florida, starting on Tuesday". Miami Herald. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
  25. ^ Phillips, Anna M. (January 2, 2015). "As gay marriage approaches, several counties' clerks opt out of wedding ceremonies". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
  26. ^ Smiley, Dave (January 6, 2015). "South Florida gay couples marry in twilight ceremonies". Miami Herald. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  27. ^ "Briefing Notice". U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Scribd.com. September 19, 2014.
  28. ^ "State of Florida: All in this Region: Lawsuits - Pending". Marriage Equality USA. January 6, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
  29. ^ "14-14061 Appellants Reply Notice". Equality Case Files. January 2, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
  30. ^ "Oral Argument Calendats". Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
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