Attorneys for both sides in Campaign for Southern Equality v. Bryant submitted briefs to the court last night in advance of the November 12th hearing in the case, a federal lawsuit challenging Mississippi’s ban on same-sex marriage. In the plaintiffs’ brief, a response to those filed by the defendants, lead counsel Roberta Kaplan stated:
“In seeking to defend the constitutionality of the Mississippi laws that exclude gay couples from civil marriage, Defendants do not offer a single argument that has not already been rejected—repeatedly—by federal courts across the country.”
The full memorandum, filed at 8:37 p.m. on November 10th, can be read at http://bit.ly/1wfj0Yb.
The briefs filed Monday preview the arguments that attorneys will make at the November 12th hearing on the motion for preliminary injunction, as plaintiffs seek to have Mississippi’s ban on same-sex marriage overturned immediately due to the harms faced by same-sex couples each day the law remains in place. The hearing will take place before U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves in federal court in Jackson, Mississippi.
Campaign for Southern Equality v. Bryant challenges the constitutionality of marriage laws in Mississippi that ban marriage between same-sex couples and deny recognition of same-sex marriages performed out of state. The lawsuit was filed last month on behalf of two same-sex couples – Andrea Sanders and Rebecca Bickett, and Jocelyn Pritchett and Carla Webb – and the Campaign for Southern Equality.
Lead counsel for the plaintiffs is Roberta Kaplan of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. Plaintiffs are also represented by Robert McDuff of McDuff & Byrd, based in Jackson, Mississippi. Kaplan was lead counsel in United States v. Windsor, the landmark case that struck down sections of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and paved the way to marriage equality from coast to coast.
“The freedom to marry cannot come soon enough for LGBT families across Mississippi, relieving them from the harms and burdens of discrimination,” says Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, Executive Director of the Campaign for Southern Equality, a plaintiff in the case. The Campaign for Southern Equality has been advocating for LGBT equality across Mississippi since 2012 and is conducting a public education campaign to accompany the case.
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