1984-1987: Turner v. Safley

In 1984, we have some progress specifically for same-sex couples. The city of Berkeley, California becomes the first to extend spousal benefits to same-sex partners of its city employees.

And in 1987, the US Supreme Court decides a case that’s especially important if you’re a felon serving hard time.

Even prisoners have a right to marry

Turner v. Safley says that, since marriage is a fundamental human right, as the court saw in Loving v. Virginia and the deadbeat dad case, the government would need a pretty darned good reason to keep an inmate from marrying someone on the outside.

The court says that marriages are “expressions of emotional support and public commitment” and that marriage is “a precondition to the receipt of government benefits (e.g., Social Security benefits), property rights (e.g., tenancy by the entirety, inheritance rights), and other, less tangible benefits”. And therefore there’s pretty much no reason good enough to justify a blanket prohibition on prisoners getting married.

Timeline key: progress (green), no progress (red), pending court cases (purple),
events that are neutral, not directly related, or with both positive and negative effects (black)