No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. The concluding paragraph of the court's majority opinion read: Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito each authored a dissent. Justice Anthony Kennedy authored the opinion and Justices Ruth Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan joined. This ruling overturned all voter-approved constitutional bans on same-sex marriage. On June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marriage under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution in the case Obergefell v. On October 6, 2014, the Supreme Court of the United States declined to hear the case, thus allowing the ruling of the Seventh Circuit Court to stand and legalizing same-sex marriage in Wisconsin. The decision was stayed, pending action by the United States Supreme Court, as state officials appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. The three-judge panel unanimously voted to uphold lower court decisions that reversed marriage restrictions. On September 4, 2014, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals declared the marriage ban unconstitutional. Van Hollen to halt marriages from taking place until after an appeal is heard on June 10, 2014.
Judge Crabb refused a state request made by Attorney General of Wisconsin J.B. Throughout history, the most 'traditional' form of marriage has not been between one man and one woman, but between one man and multiple women, which presumably is not a tradition that defendants and amici would like to continue. In her opinion, Judge Crabb refuted the state's argument regarding the history of "traditional marriages," saying,Īs an initial matter, defendants and amici have overstated their argument. On June 6, 2014, Judge Crabb ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and overturned the ban put in place by Question 1. The case was heard in the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin by Judge Barbara Crabb. The lawsuit alleged that the ban on same-sex marriage violated due process protections by limiting the right to marry and equal protection based on sexual orientation and gender discrimination.
The lead plaintiffs were Virginia Wolf and Carol Schumacher, who were married in Minnesota. In February 2014, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit challenging this constitutional amendment. On June 6, 2014, Question one was overturned by District Court Judge Barbara Crabb. The amendment created Section 13 of Article XIII of the Wisconsin Constitution to define marriage in the state as between one man and one woman. The Wisconsin Marriage Amendment, also known as Question 1, was a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on the Novemgeneral election ballot in Wisconsin, where it was approved.