Deboer v. Snyder

Questions presented

SCOTUS records, cert granted 16 Jan 2015

Whether a state violates the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by denying same--sex couples the right to marry.

Opinion summary

Etalia.ai summary of the majority opinion

The case involved a challenge to Michigan's ban on same-sex marriage, brought by April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, a lesbian couple seeking to jointly adopt their children. The plaintiffs argued that the state's prohibition violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Initially filed as an adoption case, it evolved into a broader constitutional question about marriage equality. In March 2014, U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman ruled in favor of DeBoer and Rowse, striking down Michigan’s same-sex marriage ban as unconstitutional. This decision was part of a series of federal court rulings across various states challenging similar bans following the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Windsor (2013), which invalidated parts of DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act). Friedman's ruling emphasized that there was no rational basis for denying marital rights to same-sex couples and highlighted evidence showing such bans harmed children raised by these couples.