Friday, August 31, 2007
Iowa Court Says Ban on Same-Sex Marriage Unconstitutional
Yesterday (August 30, 2007), the Iowa District Court for Polk County issued its opinion in Varnum v. Brien.
The court held that the Iowa law which prohibits individuals of the same sex from marrying violates "due process and equal protection rights [because of] the absence of a rational relationship to the achievement of any legitimate governmental interest."
Accordingly, the court concluded, "[c]ouples * * * who are otherwise qualified to marry one another may not be denied licenses to marry or certificates of marriage or in any other way prevented from entering into a civil marriage * * * by reason of the fact that both persons comprising such couple are of the same sex."
Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for being the first reader to bring this case to my attention.
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/trusts_estates_prof/2007/08/iowa-court-says.html