Sevcik v. Sandoval
| Sevcik v. Sandoval | |
|---|---|
District Court Docket: 2:12-cv-00578 Court of Appeals Docket: 12-17668 Supreme Court Docket: 14A374 | |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit |
| Argued | September 8, 2014 |
| Decided | October 7, 2014 |
| Citations | 911 F. Supp. 2d 996 (D. Nev.), reversed and remanded sub nom. Latta v. Otter, 771 F.3d 456 (9th Cir.) |
| Case history | |
| Prior actions | District Court (D. Nev.) November 26, 2012: Judgment for defendants, motion to dismiss granted in part. |
| Subsequent actions | Court of Appeals (9th Cir.)
October 7, 2014: Mandate issued. October 22, 2014: Response to petition for rehearing en banc ordered. January 9, 2015: Petition for rehearing en banc denied. District Court (D. Nev) |
| Related actions | Supreme Court October 8, 2014: Stay of mandate ordered in error; amended order vacated this stay. |
| Holding | |
| The judgment of the district court is reversed and the case remanded with an order to enjoin Nevada from enforcing the state's same-sex marriage ban. | |
| Court membership | |
| Judges sitting | Stephen Reinhardt, Ronald M. Gould, and Marsha Berzon |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Reinhardt, joined by Gould, Berzon |
| Keywords | |
| Marriage, Equal Protection, Same-sex marriage, Sexual Orientation | |
Sevcik v. Sandoval is the lead case that successfully challenged and repealed Nevada's denial of same-sex marriage, as mandated by the state's constitution and statutory law. The plaintiffs' complaint was initially filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada on April 10, 2012 ,on behalf of several couples that were denied marriage licenses. These couples challenged the denial on the basis of the U.S. Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment guarantee of equal protection.
On November 26, 2012, Chief District Judge Robert Jones ruled against the plaintiff same-sex couples, granting in part a motion to dismiss the complaint against the Nevada government officials named in it. The plaintiffs appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on December 3, 2012.
A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit heard oral arguments in Sevcik and two related cases, Jackson v. Abercrombie and Latta v. Otter, on September 8, 2014. On October 7, the panel reversed the lower court's ruling in Sevcik, remanding the case back to district court with direction to enter a judgment in favor of the plaintiffs. This effectively legalized same-sex marriage in Nevada. After at least one judge on the Court of Appeals asked for a vote on the defendants' petition to have the case reheard by a larger, 11-judge panel, a majority of judges on the Ninth Circuit did not agree; thus making the ruling final on January 9, 2015.