UF Law professor’s scholarship cited in federal same-sex marriage case, available to discuss

Published: July 28 2014

Category:General

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A University of Florida Law professor’s scholarship has been cited in a decision earlier this month by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld an earlier ruling that declared Oklahoma’s gay-marriage ban unconstitutional.

The decision included reference to Darren Hutchinson’s article, “Not Without Political Power: Gays and Lesbians, Equal Protection and the Suspect Class Doctrine,” published earlier this year in the Alabama Law Review.

The article discusses inadequacies with the suspect class doctrine, which is often used “to balance institutional concerns with the protection of important constitutional rights,” according to Hutchinson’s abstract. It also proposes, “two alternative approaches that could inform a new theory of equal protection for all subordinate classes.”

While the court’s decision in Bishop v. Barton does declare Oklahoma’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, gay marriage remains illegal in the state because the appeals court has put the ruling on hold pending further appeal.

Hutchinson is available to discuss the court’s decision, as well as key issues surrounding same-sex marriage in Florida and the United States. 

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Category:General