Kentucky Amendment 1, Definition of Marriage Amendment (2004)
| Kentucky Amendment 1 | |
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| Election date |
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| Topic LGBTQ issues and Marriage and family |
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| Status |
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| Type Legislatively referred constitutional amendment |
Origin |
Kentucky Amendment 1 was on the ballot as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment in Kentucky on November 2, 2004. It was overturned almost 10 years later.[1]
A "yes" vote supported amending the constitution to define marriage as being between one man and one woman, and declaring any legal status identical to or similar to marriage for unmarried individuals as invalid. |
A "no" vote opposed amending the constitution to define marriage as being between one man and one woman, and declaring any legal status identical to or similar to marriage for unmarried individuals as invalid. |
Election results
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Kentucky Amendment 1 |
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| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
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1,222,125 | 74.56% | ||
| No | 417,097 | 25.44% | ||
Overview
What was this amendment designed to do?
This amendment was designed to amend the constitution to define marriage as being between one man and one woman, and declaring any legal status identical to or similar to marriage for unmarried individuals as invalid.
Aftermath
U.S. District Court
On July 1, 2014, Judge John Heyburn of the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky found the amendment violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution by treating same-sex couples differently than straight couples. He also pointed to the fact that every federal court case regarding same-sex marriage bans has found them unconstitutional. Heyburn said of this issue,
| “ | Those opposed by and large simply believe that the state has the right to adopt a particular religious or traditional view of marriage regardless of how it may affect gay and lesbian persons. But, as this Court has respectfully explained, in America even sincere and long-held religious views do not trump the constitutional rights of those who happen to have been out-voted. [...]
Sometimes, by upholding equal rights for a few, courts necessarily must require others to forebear some prior conduct or restrain some personal instinct. Here, that would not seem to be the case. Assuring equal protection for same-sex couples does not diminish the freedom of others to any degree.[2][3] |
” |
| —Judge John Heyburn | ||
Heyburn stayed the pending an appeal to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati decides multiple same-sex marriage cases from Kentucky and three other states. The oral arguments are scheduled to begin in that court on August 6, 2014.[4]
This was not Heyburn's first decision regarding same-sex marriage in Kentucky. In February 2014, he struck a ban on recognizing same-sex marriages from outside of Kentucky. He placed a stay on that ruling, at the time.[1][4]
Sixth Circuit Court
On November 6, 2014, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court's ruling in Kentucky. In a 2 to 1 vote, Judge Jeffrey Sutton and Judge Deborah Cook upheld the voter-approved ban. Judge Sutton said:
| “ | When the courts do not let the people resolve new social issues like this one, they perpetuate the idea that the heroes in these change events are judges and lawyers. Better in this instance, we think, to allow change through the customary political processes, in which the people, gay and straight alike, become the heroes of their own stories by meeting each other not as adversaries in a court system but as fellow citizens seeking to resolve a new social issue in a fair-minded way.[3] | ” |
| —Judge Jeffrey Sutton[5] | ||
He also argued that states have an interest in defining measure "not to regulate love but to regulate sex, most especially the intended and unintended effects of male-female intercourse." Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey, the court's dissenter, delivered a critical opinion. She said, "If we in the judiciary do not have the authority, and indeed the responsibility, to right fundamental wrongs left excused by a majority of the electorate, our whole intricate, constitutional system of checks and balances, as well as the oaths to which we swore, prove to be nothing but shams."[5]
Appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court were filed for the Kentucky case and for cases from other states, including Michigan, in the Sixth Circuit's jurisdiction. The Michigan petition asked the nation's highest court to decide "[w]hether a state violates the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by denying same-sex couples the right to marry."[6] The US Supreme Court refused to hear appeals from states seeking to uphold same-sex marriage bans in October 2014, which was before the Sixth Circuit's ruling. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg hinted at the court's reasoning, saying, "Now if that court should disagree with the others, then there will be some urgency in the court taking the case."[7] With the Sixth Circuit's ruling, there is now a disagreement between appeals courts.
U.S. Supreme Court
- See also: Obergefell v. Hodges
On June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marriage under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution in the case Obergefell v. Hodges. The ruling overturned bans on same-sex marriage.[8]
Justice Anthony Kennedy authored the opinion and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan joined. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito each authored a dissent.[9]
Support
The Vote Yes for Marriage Committee and the Yes for Traditional Marriage PAC led the campaign in support of the amendment.[10]
Opposition
The Kentucky Families for Fairness PAC led the campaign opposing the amendment.[10]
Background
Related measures
Between 1998 and 2012, voters in 30 states approved ballot measures that defined marriage as between one male and one female or otherwise prohibited same-sex marriage. The U.S. Supreme Court invalidated bans on same-sex marriage in the case Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015.
- 1998: Alaska
- 2000: Nebraska
- 2002: Nevada
- 2004: Arkansas
- 2004: Georgia
- 2004: Kentucky
- 2004: Louisiana
- 2004: Michigan
- 2004: Mississippi
- 2004: Missouri
- 2004: Montana
- 2004: North Dakota
- 2004: Ohio
- 2004: Oklahoma
- 2004: Oregon
- 2004: Utah
- 2005: Kansas
- 2005: Texas
- 2006: Alabama
- 2006: Colorado
- 2006: Idaho
- 2006: South Carolina
- 2006: South Dakota
- 2006: Tennessee
- 2006: Virginia
- 2006: Wisconsin
- 2008: Arizona
- 2008: California
- 2008: Florida
- 2012: North Carolina
Path to the ballot
A 60% vote is required during one legislative session for the Kentucky State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 60 votes in the Kentucky House of Representatives and 23 votes in the Kentucky Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot. The Legislature cannot add more than four constitutional amendments to one election ballot.
The amendment was introduced to the Kentucky General Assembly as Senate Bill 245. The bill was approved by the House on April 12, 2004, by a vote of 85 voting yes and 11 voting no, with 51 Democrats and 34 Republicans voting for the amendment, and 10 Democrats and one Republican voting against the amendment. On April 13, 2004, the Senate voted 33-5 to approve the amendment, with 12 Democrats and 21 Republicans voting for the amendment, and four Democrats and one Republican voting against the amendment.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Associated Press, "Judge Strikes Down Kentucky's Gay Marriage Ban," July 1, 2014
- ↑ Love, et al. v. Besehar, 3:13-CV-750-H (W.D.K.L. 2014)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 USA Today, "Gays have right to marry in Kentucky, judge rules," July 1, 2014
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 USA Today, "Gay marriage bans in four states upheld, Supreme Court review likely," November 7, 2014
- ↑ Washington Post, "Two more same-sex marriage cases reach the Supreme Court," November 18, 2014
- ↑ New York Times, "Same-Sex Couples Petition Supreme Court on Right to Marriage," November 14, 2014
- ↑ NPR, "Supreme Court Declares Same-Sex Marriage Legal In All 50 States," June 26, 2015
- ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "Obergefell v. Hodges," June 26, 2015
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Follow the Money database on the Kentucky Marriage Amendment (2004)
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