PRESS CONTACTS:
Nicholas Graham: (703) 863-3373 or nicholas@afer.org
AFER Office: (323) 892-2081

Washington, DC – Today, the United States Supreme Court indicated that it will consider whether to grant review of appeals in Bostic v. Schaefer, the federal constitutional challenge to Virginia’s discriminatory Marriage Amendment.  The Bostic case, along with four other cases challenging marriage bans in Utah, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Indiana will be considered at the Justices’ private conference scheduled for September 29.

“Gay and lesbian couples in Virginia should not have to wait another day to enjoy their right to marry,” said AFER Executive Director, Adam Umhoefer. “The distribution of our case for the Court’s consideration brings us one step closer to our mission of marriage equality for all Americans. Our Constitution’s guarantee of liberty and equality soon will be realized for all loving and committed couples, no matter what state they reside in.”

The Court is expected to release an Orders List on October 6, 2014, that will indicate which – if any – marriage equality case or cases it will consider for its 2014-2015 term.

Bostic was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in July 2013 to challenge Virginia’s marriage laws on the grounds that they violate the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. On February 13, 2014, U.S. District Court Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen ruled that all laws prohibiting gay and lesbian couples from marrying in Virginia are unconstitutional, and recognized that they single out gay and lesbian Virginians for a disfavored legal status, thereby creating a category of “second-class citizens.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed that ruling on July 28, 2014.

In August 2014, each defendant asked the Supreme Court to review the Fourth Circuit’s judgment.  A request for Supreme Court review, known as a petition for a writ of certiorari, is only granted upon an affirmative vote of four Justices.

The Supreme Court has the option to grant multiple marriage cases, grant only one, delay consideration of any cases, or deny all of them. Should the Court grant review in Bostic, the Justices will go on to consider whether Virginia’s marriage ban violates the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

If the Court denies review in Bostic, the July 2014 decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit that struck down Virginia’s marriage ban will be binding and gay and lesbian Virginians will be able to marry in the Commonwealth.

READ AFER PLAINTIFFS’ RESPONSE TO STATE PETITION FOR CERTIORARI > 

READ THE FOURTH CIRCUIT’S DECISION HERE >

READ THE FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT’S DECISION HERE > 

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About the American Foundation for Equal Rights

Since its founding in 2009, the American Foundation for Equal Rights has fought for full federal marriage equality for all Americans.  As the sole sponsor of the federal constitutional challenge to California’s Proposition 8, AFER brought together bipartisan attorneys Theodore B. Olson and David Boies to secure a victory at the United States Supreme Court that restored marriage equality to our nation’s most populous state.  AFER continues its legacy of fighting for marriage equality for all Americans through Bostic v. Schaefer, the federal constitutional challenge in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld the Federal District Court decision that found all laws prohibiting gay and lesbian couples from marrying in the Commonwealth of Virginia unconstitutional. To learn more, visit www.afer.org.