Harris v. McDonnell

Harris v. McDonnell is a 2013 federal class-action court case requesting that Virginia's marriage ban be struck down.

The case was filed on August 1, 2013 in the US District Court for the Western District of Virginia, Harrisonburg. It was assigned to Judge Michael F. Urbanski under the case number 5:13-cv-77.

The initial complaint was filed on August 1, 2013 against the Virginia state Governor and Registrar of Vital Records (the "state plaintiffs") and against the county clerk of Staunton County.

The plaintiffs sought to certify a class action lawsuit, the class being comprised of all people in these subclasses: The defendants opposed class certification because the named plaintiffs are not representative of either subclass, and because certain other procedural requirements have not been met. The plaintiffs in another Virginia marriage case, Bostic v. McDonnell, requested to be excluded from the class definition because they had filed their claim first and that case is proceeding on an expedited basis.
 * 1) All persons residing in Virginia who are unmarried, and either
 * 2) wish to marry a person of the same sex, have applied for a marriage license in the Commonwealth with a person of the same sex, and have been denied the license; or
 * 3) wish to marry a person of the same sex in the Commonwealth, but have not attempted to apply for a marriage license because the marriage ban would render such an attempt futile.
 * 4) All persons residing in Virginia who are validly married to a person of the same sex in another jurisdiction, and wish to have their marriage recognized by the Commonwealth.

The Governor moved to dismiss the claims against him on sovereign immunity grounds.

On September 3, Judge Urbanski sent a letter to all parties indicating that the case is expected to be set for trial in about eight months (May, 2014), unless the parties request an earlier date. Both sides have until September 10 to object or request a change; if none is received, the judge will select a date.

Timeline

 * 2013-08-01: #1: [[Media:Harris v. McDonnell Complaint.pdf|Complaint]]
 * 2013-08-16: #23: [[Media:Harris v. McDonnell Answer of Janet M. Rainey.pdf|Answer of Janet M. Rainey]]
 * 2013-08-16: #24: [[Media:Harris v. McDonnell Motion to dismiss.pdf|Motion to dismiss]] Defendant McDonnell
 * 2013-08-16: #25: [[Media:Harris v. McDonnell Memo in support of motion to dismiss.pdf|Memorandum in support]]
 * 2013-08-28: #28: by plaintiffs
 * 2013-08-30: #31:
 * 2013-08-16: #26: [[Media:Harris v. McDonnell Motion for class certification.pdf|Motion for class certification]] by plaintiffs
 * 2013-08-16: #27: [[Media:Harris v. McDonnell Brief in support of motion for class certification.pdf|Brief in support]]
 * 2013-08-30: #30: by state defendants
 * 2013-09-03: #36: [[File:Harris v. McDonnell Brief in opposition to class certification by county clerk.pdf|Brief in opposition]] by county clerk
 * 2013-09-09: #39: by plaintiffs
 * 2013-08-30: #32:  by Defendant Roberts
 * 2013-08-30: #33:
 * 2013-09-11: #42: by plaintiffs
 * 2013-09-03: #34: [[Media:Harris v. McDonnell Notice re Magistrate Judge.pdf|Notice to parties of right to consent to jurisdiction of U.S. magistrate judge]]
 * 2013-09-03: #35: [[Media:Harris v. McDonnell Scheduling memo.pdf|Scheduling memo]]
 * 2013-09-03: #38: [[Media:Harris v. McDonnell Request to exclude plaintiffs from class.pdf|Request to exclude plaintiffs from the class]] by Bostic plaintiffs
 * 2013-09-09: #40: by plaintiffs
 * 2013-09-17: #43:  by the court:
 * 2013-10-01: FRCP 26(f) Conference (14 days from the order)
 * 2013-10-17: FRCP 26(a) Initial disclosures (30 days from the order)
 * 2013-12-01: Plaintiffs' initial expert disclosures (75 days from the order)
 * 2013-12-16: Defendants' initial expert disclosures (90 days from the order)
 * 2014-03-04: Deadline to complete discovery (90 days before trial)
 * 2014-03-19: Deadline to file dispositive motions (75 days before trial)
 * 2014-04-18: Deadline to hear dispositive motions (45 days before trial)
 * 2014-05-03: Deadline to file motions in limine (30 days before trial)
 * 2014-06-02 through 2014-06-13: Bench trial
 * 2013-09-30: #44:  by plaintiffs
 * 2013-09-30: #45: in support
 * 2013-09-30: #46: in support
 * 2013-09-30: #47: in support
 * 2013-09-30: #48: in support
 * 2013-09-30: #49: in support
 * 2013-09-30: #50: by plaintiffs (along with motion for leave to file an oversized brief and a proposed order allowing that)