Michigan Couple Ready To Appeal To Supreme Court In Same-Sex Marriage Case
HAZEL PARK (WWJ) -- The fight over same-sex marriage recognition in Michigan has reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
In an appeal filed Monday on behalf of Detroit-area nurses April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, the justices are being asked to overturn a lower court ruling that upheld laws opposing same-sex marriage in Michigan, and three other states.
On November 6, in a 2-1 decision, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a ruling that found the gay marriage ban unconstitutional, ruling that states have the right to set rules for marriage.
Dana Nessel, the attorney for Deboer and Rowse, called the ongoing debate over same-sex marriage the "civil rights issue of our time."
"This is exactly the kind of case that we think the Supreme Court ought to take because of its incredible importance to hundreds of thousands of citizens in the United States," Nessel said.
In a written statement, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette says he also supports a "swift appeal" to the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue.
"My great hope is that one day -- and one day soon -- the only time that we discuss the issue of same-sex marriage and its legality is in history classes," Nessel said.
Another reason the Michigan case could be attractive to the court is because it went through a full-blown trial. Last March, U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman in Detroit struck down the state ban -- only to have it reinstated earlier this month in an appeals court ruling.
Deboer and Rowse are raising three children, two of whom have special needs. The Hazel Park couple filed the case because they could not legally adopt each other's children under state law.
"I think it's really an unimaginable thing for a person to tell you that your marriage never existed and that you are not entitled to any protections or benefits that are encapsulated in marriage," Nessel said. "It's so important that the high court hears this an makes a decision once and for all for all 50 state in the nation."
More than 300 couples were married in four counties on a Saturday in March after Detroit federal Friedman declared Michigan's gay marriage ban — approved by voters in 2004 — unconstitutional.
"I can just speak in terms of our hopefulness that the court will believe that our case is worthy for them to hear our appeal in this matter," Nessel said.