In a 45 page ruling issued today, Federal Judge Timothy Black called Ohio’s refusal to recognize gay marriage a violation of constitutional rights and “unenforceable in all circumstances.”
“The record before this court ... is staggeringly devoid of any legitimate justification for the state’s ongoing arbitrary discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation,” Black wrote. Black was appointed as Federal Judge by President Barack Obama.
Both the Governor and Attorney General of Ohip will challenge Black's ruling.
Ohio joins neighbors Kentucky and Tennessee- two states where federal judges have also ruled that their state bans on recognizing marriages in other states are unconstitutional. Federal judges in the last 4 months have also struck down state bans in Texas, Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia, and Michigan.
Though Black did not enforce a stay with his decision, he did order that the 4 couples who are plaintiffs in the case have their out of state marriages recognized immediately.
Oral arguments in the Utah case began last Thursday, guranteeing it a front runner position to head to the US Supreme Court.
