Florida attorney general Pam Bondi is continuing her fight against marriage equality.
She is asking the Third District Court of Appeals to overrule two South Florida judges who found Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional.
Luis Garcia, Monroe’s Chief Circuit Judge, was the first judge to rule the 2008 ban unconstitutional on July 17. That case was filed by Aaron Huntsman and William Lee Jones, two Key West bartenders.
On July 25, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Sarah Zabel came to the same conclusion when she heard a case involving six same-sex couples who wanted their marriages recognized or be granted the right to marry in the Sunshine State.
Both decisions are held under a stay, and in the meantime, the attorney general took both cases to the appeals court, where they were consolidated. The Nov. 17 filing’s arguments are very similar to Bondi’s arguments filed Nov. 14, arguing that the judge’s rulings are a violation of states’ rights and that the ban does not violate the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constution: “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
Bondi also argues that Florida’s laws banning gay marriage do not interfere with basic citizen rights, such as the right to travel. The briefs’ final arguments state that plaintiffs cannot satisfy the preliminary injunction factors.
It is unknown when the Third District Court of Appeals will rule on the cases.
