The Reading Room

justice system Use the table below to download copies of the case decisions and other documents by clicking the link in the format column. Cases are arranged with federal cases first, followed by state cases. Within each jurisdiction, cases are listed chronologically.

In the state listings, the terms “lower court”, “intermediate court”, and “high court” are used to maintain consistency. In various states, lower courts go by such names as Superior Court, Circuit Court, or even Supreme Court, while intermediate and high courts go by Court Of Appeals, Supreme Court, or Supreme Judicial Court.

Many of the decisions have been reformatted for consistency and ease of reading. For example, endnotes have been converted to footnotes, and highlighting has been added to call attention to key passages.

In some instances, the original source did not indicate which words of a passage were intended to be emphasized, yet the text contains notations such as “[emphasis added]”. No attempt was made to determine or indicate which words originally had emphasis.

File formats

doc = Microsoft Word
xls = Microsoft Excel
htm = web page (hypertext markup, any browser)
mht = web page (hypertext markup, Internet Explorer only)
txt = text
pdf = Adobe Reader

Documents

Federal (Supreme Court except where noted)		year	notes	format	size
	Skinner v. Oklahoma	1942	first to declare marriage a “basic civil right”	`doc`	60k
	Skinner v. Oklahoma	1942	first to declare marriage a “basic civil right”	`pdf`	81k
	Brown v. Board Of Education	1954	separate-but-equal is unconstitutional	`doc`	60k
	Loving v. Virginia	1967	interracial couples have a fundamental civil right to marry	`doc`	64k
	Loving v. Virginia	1967	interracial couples have a fundamental civil right to marry	`pdf`	91k
	Zablocki v. Redhail	1978	“deadbeat dads” have a fundamental civil right to marry	`doc`	135k
	Adams v. Howerton (US Court Of Appeals)	1975-1982	immigration rules do not apply to same-sex couples (appeal from US District Court, apparently appealed from US Board Of Immigration Appeals, 1975)	`txt`	17k
	Adams v. Howerton (US Court Of Appeals)	1975-1982		`mht`	29k
	Turner v. Safley	1987	prisoners have a fundamental civil right to marry	`doc`	133k
	Turner v. Safley	1987	prisoners have a fundamental civil right to marry	`pdf`	254k
	Romer v. Evans	1996	state constitutional amendment is unconstitutional under the federal constitution	`doc`	114k
	Lawrence v. Texas	2003	friend-of-the-court brief opposing sodomy laws	`pdf`	172k
	Lawrence v. Texas	2003	gay people have a civil right to privacy (end of sodomy laws)	`pdf`	540k
	Citizens For Equal Protection v. Nebraska	2005	US District Court: state constitutional amendment is unconstitutional under the federal constitution	`pdf`	168k
	Citizens For Equal Protection v. Nebraska	2006	US Court Of Appeals: state constitutional amendment is constitutional under the federal constitution	`pdf`	142k
	Smelt v. Orange County (US District Court)	2005	the fundamental right to marry does not extend to same-sex couples, and even though the federal DOMA does harm homosexuals as a class, it is within the bounds of congressional powers to do so	`pdf`	1,702k
Alaska		year	notes	format	size
	Brause & Dugan v. Alaska	1998	lower court: same-sex couples have a fundamental civil right to marry	`doc`	122k
				`pdf`	135k
			Exhibit 4 - listing of state laws pertaining to marriage	`xls`	47k
		2001	high court denies marriage to same-sex couples	`pdf`	687k
California		year	notes	format	size
	Perez v. Sharp	1948	high court: interracial couples have a fundamental civil right to marry	`doc`	208k
	Perez v. Sharp	1948		`pdf`	327k
	Lockyer v. City & County Of San Francisco / Lewis v. Alfaro	2004	high court orders forcible divorces of same-sex couples	`doc`	296k
	Lockyer v. City & County Of San Francisco / Lewis v. Alfaro	2004	high court orders forcible divorces of same-sex couples	`pdf`	421k
	Marriage Cases (consolidated cases: Woo, etc.)	2005	lower court: same-sex couples have a fundamental civil right to marry	`pdf`	1,223k
		2006	intermediate court: same-sex couples do not have a fundamental civil right to marry	`pdf`	397k
		2007	Respondents’ Supplemental Brief	`pdf`	331k
			Respondents’ Supplemental Reply Brief	`pdf`	222k
			Campaign For California Families’ Reply Brief	`pdf`	179k
Colorado		year	notes	format	size
	Romer v. Evans		see entry in Federal
Connecticut		year	notes	format	size
	Kerrigan v. Connecticut	2006	lower court: same-sex couples do not have a civil right to marry because civil unions are good enough	`pdf`	4,820k
Hawaii		year	notes	format	size
	Baehr v. Lewin/Miike	1993	high court: marriage is a fundamental civil right; State must prove it has a compelling interest to deny that right to same-sex couples	`doc`	201k
		1996	lower court: same-sex couples have a fundamental civil right to marry	`doc`	107k
		1996		`pdf`	175k
Iowa		year	notes	format	size
	Varnum v. Brien	2005	plaintiffs’ petition	`pdf`	647k
	Varnum v. Brien	2007	lower court: same-sex couples have a fundamental civil right to marry	`pdf`	2,716k
Kentucky		year	notes	format	size
	Jones v. Hallahan	1973	intermediate court: same-sex couples do not have a fundamental civil right to marry	`doc`	28k
	Jones v. Hallahan	1973		`pdf`	26k
Maryland		year	notes	format	size
	Deane & Polyak v. Conaway	2004	plaintiffs’ complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief	`pdf`	73k
		2004	defendants’ answer to above complaint	`pdf`	372k
		2006	lower court: same-sex couples have the right to marry under the Equal Rights Amendment	`pdf`	915k
		2007	high court: same-sex couples do not have a fundamental civil right to marry	`pdf`	863k
Massachusetts		year	notes	format	size
	Goodridge v. Dept. Of Public Health	2003?	plaintiffs-appellants brief to high court	`pdf`	287k
		2003	high court: same-sex couples have a fundamental civil right to marry	`doc`	296k
				`pdf`	353k
				`txt`	226k
		2004	high court: civil unions are unconstitutional	`doc`	88k
	Cote-Whitacre v. DPH	2006	high court: out-of-state same-sex couples (except possibly those from NY, RI) cannot marry in MA	`doc`	196k
		2006	lower court on remand from high court: out-of-state same-sex couples from RI can marry in MA	`pdf`	267k
		2007	Assented-to motion for judgment, proposed judgment, and Memorandum Of Law In Support Of Motion	`pdf`	267k
		2007	lower court on remand from high court: prior ruling that voided marriages of NY same-sex couples was too broad; prior ruling amended to state that “same-sex marriage only became ’prohibited’ in New York on July 6, 2006”; NY same-sex couples married in MA prior to that date are considered validly married	`pdf`	30k
Minnesota		year	notes	format	size
	Baker v. Nelson	1971	high court: same-sex couples do not have a civil right to marry	`doc`	32k
	Baker v. Nelson	1971		`pdf`	41k
Missouri		year	notes	format	size
	Turner v. Safley		see entry in Federal
Nebraska		year	notes	format	size
	Citizens For Equal Protection v. Nebraska		see entry in Federal
New Jersey		year	notes	format	size
	Lewis v. Harris	2005	intermediate court: same-sex couples do not have a civil right to marry	`doc`	194k
	Lewis v. Harris	2006	high court: same-sex couples have an equal protection right to civil unions, but not to marriage	`pdf`	175k
New York		year	notes	format	size
	Samuels v. NY State DOH	2006	intermediate court: same-sex couples do not have a fundamental civil right to marry (consolidated into Hernandez below)	`pdf`	71k
	Seymour v. Holcomb & NY State DOH	2006	intermediate court: same-sex couples do not have a fundamental civil right to marry (consolidated into Hernandez below)	`pdf`	37k
	Hernandez v. Robles	2005	lower court: same-sex couples have a fundamental civil right to marry	`pdf`	3,054k
		2005	intermediate court: same-sex couples do not have a fundamental civil right to marry	`htm`	133k
		2006	high court: same-sex couples do not have a fundamental civil right to marry	`pdf`	135k
	Godfrey v. Spano	2007	lower court: county executive’s order “requiring county agencies to recognize same-sex marriages where validly contracted out-of-state” is valid and marriages of same-sex couples must be recognized under the principle of comity	`pdf`	537k
	Godfrey v. Hevesi	2007	lower court: state comptroller’s decision that the state “retirement system will recognize a same-sex Canadian marriage in the same manner as an opposite-sex New York marriage under the principle of comity” is valid	`pdf`	206k
	Martinez v. County Of Monroe	2008	intermediate court: state must recognize valid out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples	`pdf`	17k
Oklahoma		year	notes	format	size
	Skinner v. Oklahoma		see entry in Federal
Oregon		year	notes	format	size
	Li v. Oregon	2004	lower court: same-sex couples deserve some rights that marriage confers	`pdf`	663k
		2005	high court orders forcible divorces of same-sex couples	`doc`	86k
		2005	high court orders forcible divorces of same-sex couples	`htm`	52k
Rhode Island		year	notes	format	size
	Cote-Whitacre v. DPH		see entry in Massachusetts
	Chambers v. Ormiston	2007	high court refuses to recognize marriage of RI same-sex couple married in MA; refuses to grant divorce	`pdf`	94k
Texas		year	notes	format	size
	Lawrence v. Texas		see entry in Federal
Vermont		year	notes	format	size
	Baker v. Vermont	1999	high court: same-sex couples deserve some rights that marriage confers	`doc`	314k
				`pdf`	285k
			summary of above	`doc`	66k
		2000	see also civil unions entry in other documents
Virginia		year	notes	format	size
	Loving v. Virginia		see entry in Federal
Washington		year	notes	format	size
	Singer v. Hara	1974	intermediate court: same-sex couples do not have a civil right to marry	`pdf`	1,940k
	Singer v. Hara	1974		`txt` (abridged)	21k
	Andersen v. King County	2004	lower court: same-sex couples have a fundamental civil right to marry	`doc`	85k
	Andersen v. King County	2004		`pdf`	126k
	Castle v. State Of Washington	2004	lower court: same-sex couples have a fundamental civil right to marry	`pdf`	184k
	Andersen v. King County	2005	respondents' brief to high court	`pdf`	248k
	Andersen/Castle v. State Of Washington	2006	high court: same-sex couples do not have a civil right to marry (majority opinion)	`pdf`	253k
			(Alexander concurring opinion)	`pdf`	54k
			(J. Johnson concurring opinion)	`pdf`	233k
			(Bridge dissenting opinion)	`pdf`	188k
			(Chambers dissenting opinion)	`pdf`	116k
			(Fairhurst dissenting opinion)	`pdf`	205k
	Leskovar v. City	2007	intermediate court: mayor’s order recognizing marriages of same-sex couples for employment purposes is lawful	`pdf`	129k
Wisconsin		year	notes	format	size
	Zablocki v. Redhail		see entry in Federal
Cherokee Nation		year	notes	format	size
	Anglen v. McKinley & Reynolds	2005	high court: marriage of same-sex couple cannot be challenged by those who are not harmed	`pdf`	67k
other documents		year	notes	format	size
	US Constitution	1787-1992	including amendments	`doc`	109k
	US General Accounting Office: list of federal laws contingent on marital status	1997	original report	`pdf`	480k
		2004	update of 1997 report	`pdf`	269k
	Vermont's civil unions law	2000	text of the act passed by the state legislature	`mht`	93k
	Married In San Francisco	2004	first-hand account by this site’s author of his marriage during “The Winter Of Love”	`doc`	171k
	Married In San Francisco	2004		`pdf`	151k
	In defense of marriage	2004	op-ed by this site’s author and his fiancé, published in the Ballard News-Tribune	`doc`	26k
	The RCW Project 2004: list of Washington State laws contingent on marital status, by Legal Marriage Alliance Of Washington	2004	introduction and summary (with link to results table of statutes)	`htm`	9k
		2004	table of statutes	`xls`	392k
	Anti-Gay Marriage Measures in the U.S., by National Gay And Lesbian Task Force	2005	map of the US showing, by state, anti-marriage statutes and constitutional amendments (as of Aug 2005)	`pdf`	96k
	State Prohibitions on Marriage for Same-Sex Couple[sic], and Statewide Marriage Laws, by Human Rights Campaign	2006	map of the US showing, by state, anti-marriage statutes, constitutional amendments, and laws (as of Nov 2006)	`pdf`	345k
	case quotes	1942-2005	notable quotes from court decisions	`doc`	114k