Lawsuit filed to block nation's last unchallenged same-sex marriage ban in North Dakota

Source: Associated Press

Lawsuit filed to block nation's last unchallenged same-sex marriage ban in North Dakota
By Kevin Burbach, The Associated Press June 6, 2014 3:20 PM

BISMARCK, N.D. - Seven couples filed a federal lawsuit Friday challenging the constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in North Dakota, making it the last state in the U.S. to be sued by gay couples seeking the right to marry in their home state.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Fargo, challenges both North Dakota's constitutional ban on gay marriage and its refusal to recognize marriages of same-sex couples who legally wed in other states. That means cases are currently pending in all 31 states with gay marriage bans. Judges have overturned several of those bans since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down part of a federal law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

North Dakota attorney general's office said it had not yet seen the suit and was not commenting. The 2004 voter-approved constitutional ban on same-sex marriage was passed by 73 per cent of voters.

Filed by attorney Josh Newville, who is also representing six South Dakota couples in a similar case, the lawsuit claims violations on three issues that are guaranteed in the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: equal protection, due process and right to travel.








Read more: http://www.canada.com/news/world/Lawsuit+filed+block+nations+last+unchallenged+samesex+marriage+North/9914842/story.html