ACLU opposes state's request for stay that would halt same-sex marriages
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana has filed an objection to the state's request for an emergency stay of a federal judge's order striking down the state's ban on same-sex marriage.
The stay sought by Attorney General Greg Zoeller would halt the spree of gay marriages conducted across Indiana while state officials appeal the landmark decision handed down Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Richard Young.
The Marion County clerk's office has announced that it will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 pm. Saturday to issue and record marriage licenses. No marriage ceremonies will be conducted at the office on Saturday.
If a stay is granted today, however, the clerk will stop issuing licenses to same-sex couples, a spokeswoman said. If there is no stay, the clerk will resume issuing licenses during regular business hours Monday. The office in the west wing of the City-County Building is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The ACLU petition opposing a stay says, "The public interest strongly weighs against the stay.
"Ultimately the question is what interest does the public in Indiana have in maintaining what this court recognizes is profound 'injustice'?" the petition says. "The Hoosier public has no such interest."
The petition claims the state has not met its burden in seeking the stay and that the state is not facing irreparable harm.
"Any harm that the state faces is outweighed by the harm that a stay would cause the plaintiffs," the petition says.
"The irreparable harm (to same-sex couples) here goes beyond the fact that constitutional rights have been violated. ... The status of 'married' comes with hundreds of rights and responsibilities under Indiana and federal law. The very purpose of marriage is to allow couples to enter into a relationship that provides security in the face of both unanticipated and anticipated vicissitudes of life. Same-sex couples who wish to marry are subjected to irreparable harm every day they are forced to live without the security that marriage brings. This is real harm. Moreover, some benefits, such as a spouse's ability to collect Social Security spousal benefits, depend on the length of a marriage."
The ACLU motion continues: "The stay request ignores the continuing stigmatic and other harm inflicted on the plaintiffs and their children. As the (Supreme Court) noted in Windsor, discrimination against same-sex couples 'demeans the couple, whose moral and sexual choices the Constitution protects' and 'humiliates' their children, making it 'even more difficult for the children to understand the integrity and closeness of their own family and its concord with other families in their community and in their daily lives.' This court's decision removed that harm. To reinstate it through the granting of the stay would be to reinstate this irreparable harm."
Young's decision striking down the Indiana law that bans same-sex marriage, and denies recognition of gay marriages legally conducted in other states, mirrors more than a dozen similar federal court rulings since December.
In the request for a stay, state attorneys noted stays have been granted in every other case while an appeal is being conducted.
Bryan Corbin, spokesman for the attorney general, said the stay request "is intended to prevent confusion and inconsistency between county clerk's offices regarding license issuance, while the appeal is pending."
"Until the United States Supreme Court determines that traditional marriage laws such as Indiana's are unconstitutional, it is premature to require Indiana to change its definition of marriage and abide by this court's conception of marriage," the attorney general wrote in the request for stay.
"Nonetheless, marriages in violation of Indiana's existing law have taken place, are taking place and will continue to take place pursuant to this court's order."
It is not clear when Young will act on the state's request for the stay.
Call Star reporter Tim Evans at (317) 444-6204. Follow him on Twitter: @starwatchtim.