Wright v. Arkansas

Wright v. Arkansas is a 2013 Arkansas court case requesting that the state's marriage ban and non-recognition of out-of-state marriages be declared unconstitutional, and the state issue marriage licenses and recognize same-sex couples married in other states as married.

The case was filed on July 1, 2013, in Pulaski County Circuit Court, on behalf of 20 same-sex couples, some of which had married in other states and others of which had been denied marriage licenses by county clerks in Arkansas. It was assigned to Judge Jay Moody under the case number 60CV-13-2662. An amended complaint was filed on July 21, and a second amended complaint was filed on August 5. On September 3, the judge recused himself and the case was reassigned to Judge Chris Piazza.

Motions for temporary relief
On August 15, a motion for temporary relief was filed, which included a request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction preventing enforcement of Arkansas statutes and constitutional provisions which bar recognition of same-sex couples while the case is pending. Among the factors supporting the request are that one married couple is expecting another child and both parents' names should be listed on the birth certificate. The state defendants replied in opposition to that motion on August 23, relying mostly on their motion to dismiss filed the same day for their reasoning why the motion for temporary relief should be denied.

Motions to dismiss
On August 22, the plaintiffs filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss the State of Arkansas, the Governor of Arkansas, and the Attorney General of Arkansas from the list of defendants. On August 23, the state defendants (the State, Governor, Attorney General, and Department of Health) filed a motion to dismiss of their own, agreeing with the plaintiffs that the State, Governor, and Attorney General should be dismissed based on sovereign immunity and those offices not having anything to do with the enforcement of the marriage laws.

Their motion to dismiss included several other claims, including that a provision of the state constitution cannot fall afoul of another provision; that all of the claims based on Arkansas law should be dismissed due to the constitutional marriage ban; that Baker v. Nelson, US v. Windsor, and Citizens for Equal Protection v. Bruning indicate there is no Due Process or Equal Protection violation; that the Full Faith and Credit Clause applies only to courts, not state action, and cannot be used as a basis for a lawsuit; that the Contract Clause of the US Constitution does not apply to marriage contracts; that the marriage ban does not affect any rights of the plaintiff children; that non-biological parents of the plaintiff children have no right to assert claims on their behalf; and that the marriage bans are rational.

On September 6, the state defendants were dismissed from the case.

Two sets of county clerks filed answers, affirmative defenses, and motions to dismiss on August 23. They each incorporated the State's corresponding documents and expanded upon with additional responses. Faulkner County's clerk filed her corresponding documents on August 30, with an additional complaint that the clerk had not been properly served.

Background
Act 146 of 1997 amended Arkansas Code § 9-11-208 to deny same-sex couples marriage licenses and no not recognize marriages between people of the same sex.

In 2002, the state supreme court struck down the state's sodomy ban in a case called Jegley v. Picado, a year before the U.S. Supreme Court struck down those bans in several other states. Among the findings in Jegley were that
 * ...certain inherent and inalienable rights, including the enjoyment of life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness: All men are created equally free and independent, and have certain inherent and inalienable rights, amongst which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty; of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property and reputation, and of pursuing their own happiness.
 * The rights granted by our constitution are guaranteed to all citizens equally. Article 2, Section 3, provides: "The equality of all persons before the law is recognized, and shall ever remain inviolate; nor shall any citizen ever be deprived of any right, privilege or immunity, nor exempted from any burden or duty, on account of race, color or previous condition." Ark. Const.art. 2 § 3. "The General Assembly shall not grant to any citizen or class of citizens privileges or immunities which upon the same terms shall not equally belong to all citizens." Ark. Const. art. 2 § 18.

Amendment 83 of 2004 was enacted at the ballot box, perhaps in response to this and the fear that a court would apply this same reasoning to marriage.

The plaintiffs claim that Amendment 83, Arkansas Code § 9-11-208, and several other sections of the Arkansas code violate the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of both the federal and state constitutions, both as applied to the plaintiffs and on their face, and that they constitute an irreparable injury to the plaintiffs. They also claim that the non-recognition of out-of-state marriage licenses violates the Full Faith and Credit clause of the federal Constitution and another section of the state constitution which prevents the impairment of obligations of contracts.

Timeline

 * 2013-07-01: [[Media:Wright v. Arkansas Complaint.pdf|Complaint]]
 * 2013-07-21: [[Media:Wright v. Arkansas First amended complaint.pdf|First amended complaint]]
 * 2013-08-05: [[Media:Wright v. Arkansas Second amended complaint.pdf|Second amended complaint]]
 * 2013-08-22: [[Media:Wright v. Arkansas Motion to voluntarily dismiss parties.pdf|Plaintiffs' motion to voluntarily dismiss parties]]
 * 2013-08-23: [[Media:Wright v. Arkansas Motion to dismiss.pdf|State defendants' motion to dismiss]]
 * 2013-08-23: [[Media:Wright v. Arkansas Brief in support of motion to dismiss.pdf|Brief in support]]
 * 2013-08-23: [[Media:Wright v. Arkansas Clerks 1 Answer and Motion to Dismiss.pdf|Answer and motion to dismiss]] by Pulaski and Saline County Clerks
 * 2013-08-23: [[Media:Wright v. Arkansas Clerks 2 Answer and Motion to Dismiss.pdf|Answer and motion to dismiss]] by White, Lonoke, Washington, and Conway County Clerks
 * 2013-08-30: [[Media:Wright v. Arkansas Clerks 3 Answer and Motion to Dismiss.pdf|Answer and motion to dismiss]] by Faulkner County Clerk
 * 2013-08-30: [[Media:Wright v. Arkansas Clerks 3 Brief in support.pdf|Brief in support]] by Faulkner County Clerk
 * 2013-08-30: [[Media:Wright v. Arkansas Melinda Reynolds Affidavit.pdf|Affidavit of Melissa Reynolds]]
 * 2013-09-06: [[Media:Wright v. Arkansas Order of dismissal without prejudice.pdf|Order dismissing state defendants without prejudice]]
 * 2013-08-15: [[Media:Wright v. Arkansas Motion for temporary relief.pdf|Motion for temporary relief]]
 * 2013-08-15: [[Media:Wright v. Arkansas Supporting Affidavits.pdf|Supporting affidavits]]
 * 2013-08-23: [[Media:Wright v. Arkansas Response to motion for temporary relief.pdf|State defendants' response in opposition]]
 * 2013-09-03: [[Media:Wright v. Arkansas Order of Recusal.pdf|Order of recusal granted]]
 * 2013-09-04: [[Media:Wright v. Arkansas Motion to Suspend.pdf|Motion for stay of deadlines]] by plaintiffs
 * 2013-09-06: [[Media:Wright v. Arkansas Order of Stay.pdf|Granted]]

Non-court timeline

 * 2004-??-??: John Schenck and Robert Loyd marry in Canada.
 * 2004-12-27: William A. King and John McClay Rankine marry in Ontario, Canada.
 * 2010-08-09: Natalie Wartick and Tommie Jean marry in Iowa.
 * 2011-05-09: Jennifer D. Moore and Mandy A. Lyles marry in Iowa.
 * 2012-10-15: Andra Alsbury and Amber Gardner-Alsbury marry in Massachusetts.
 * 2012-12-14: Kimberly M. Robinson and Felicity L. Robinson marry in Iowa.
 * 2013-03-08: M. Kendall Wright and Julia Wright marry in Iowa.