A judge will rule next month on whether or not a federal challenge of Pennsylvania’s ban on same-sex marriage will proceed.
In a hearing Wednesday morning in Harrisburg, Judge John Jones said he would rule by Nov. 15 on the state’s request for the dismissal of the suit.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania filed the case, Whitewood v. Corbett, July 9 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, on behalf of 10 same-sex couples, two of their children and one widow. The national ACLU and firm Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller are also representing the plaintiffs.
Attorneys for Gov. Tom Corbett, named as a defendant, last week filed a motion to dismiss the suit, contending the plaintiffs did not adequately state a claim for relief.
If Jones does not dismiss the case, he said he would put it on an expedited discovery schedule.
The judge said Wednesday the trial would be “earlier rather than later” in 2014. Pending his ruling on the dismissal request, the parties will again meet Nov. 22 for a case-management conference, at which time a trial schedule will be announced.
In a motion filed this week supporting the state’s request for dismissal, Corbett and Health Secretary Michael Wolf, also a defendant, petitioned the court to release them as defendants, arguing that case precedent exempts some state officials from being sued in federal court without their consent. The pair also cited the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that found federal courts don’t have jurisdiction over marriage laws, which are defined by states.
Attorney General Kathleen Kane filed her own motion asking to be removed, as she is not enforcing the state ban on same-sex marriage.
Shortly after the July filing, Kane announced she would not personally defend in the case, as she believes the state’s 1996 law that defines marriage as between one man and one woman is “wholly unconstitutional.”
Kane has also been named as a defendant, along with Corbett, in two other lawsuits filed last month challenging the law, one in state court and one in federal. She has not yet announced her actions in those cases.
