Arguments in a federal lawsuit aimed at overturning Indiana’s ban on same-sex marriage will focus on a case naming Boone County Clerk Penny Bogan as the defendant.
On March 10, Lambda Legal filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Whitestown residents Rae Baskin, 60, and Esther Fuller, 78, and two other samesex Indiana couples, seeking to overturn all of Indiana’s laws banning same-sex marriage. Named as plaintiffs were Bogan, Porter County Clerk Karen M. Martin, Lake County Clerk Michael A. Brown and Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller.
The plaintiffs also sought recognition by Indiana of same-sex marriages performed in other states.
U.S. District Court Judge Richard L. Young ruled on June 25 that Indiana’s discriminatory ban on marriage for same-sex couples is unconstitutional. Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller filed an appeal, and on June 27 the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals granted his request for an emergency motion to stay Young’s ruling.
Ten marriage licenses were issued in Boone County to same-sex couples in the 2-1/2 day period.
Baskin and Fuller have been in a relationship for nearly 24 years, said Lambda Legal spokesman Erik Roldan. “ Rae wishes to marry Esther because absent marriage, their relationship is viewed as having less dignity and respect by the state and in the eyes of others,” Roldan said. The couple also want to ensure that they each receive spousal protection, including Social Security benefits for surviving spouses, Roldan said. Fuller had breast cancer in 2008, and broke a hip in 2009.
Oral arguments in Baskin vs. Bogan will begin at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday before a three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.
Camilla Taylor, Lambda Legal’s Marriage Project Director, and Indiana ACLU Executive Director Kenneth Faulk will argue the case Tuesday, said Paul D. Castillo, a Lambda Legal staff attorney.
The Baskin vs. Bogan case, which was the first case filed in district court, was designated by Young as the consolidation case, Taylor said during a conference call Thursday afternoon. “It was also the case the judge relied upon when reviewing the record and reviewing the facts,” she said. “It is also significant that it was the case argued, as well.”
“A couple of oral arguments” in Baskin vs. Bogan helped the judge, Taylor said. “This has been a remarkable year” for same-sex marriage rights, Taylor said. “We’ve been surfing a tidal wave of victories” since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Defense of Marriage Act in June 2013, allowing same-sex marriage proponents to challenge state bans. Since the federal law was overturned, proponents of same-sex marriage have won 21 consecutive court rulings against state bans, said Charles Joughnin of The Human Rights Campaign, an organization advocating for marriage equality. During the conference call, Taylor said they had just learned that a federal judge had declared Florida’s samesex marriage ban unconstitutional. Excluding that they are of the same gender, same-sex couples, Castillo said, “are in all respects like couples down the street.” Bogan said she, individually, is not a defendant in the case. “It’s my office,” Bogan said. “As I’ve said before, my name was at the top of the alphabet.” “(County Attorney Bob) Clutter and I discussed it; it’s not me as a defendant,” Bogan said. She had been concerned that she might continue to be involved after she leaves office. Bogan is in her second term as county clerk; state law prohibits her from seeking re-election. Deputy Clerk Jessica Fouts, a Republican, is the only candidate for the office in the November general election. “(Clutter) thought it would roll over to the next clerk, or it would be my name only, not me personally,” Bogan said. Young ruled on Tuesday that Indiana must recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states as valid, but placed his ruling on hold pending further hearings. In his ruling, Young criticized Gov. Mike Pence’s action ordering state agencies to essentially ignore a June 26 decision overruling the state’s same-sex marriage ban. “The memoranda issued by the governor clearly contradict his prior representations to the court,” Young wrote in Tuesday’s ruling, calling Pence’s actions “at a minimum, troubling.”
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