Victory! In 2013, private counsel filed a lawsuit in state court challenging the constitutionality of Arkansas’ ban on same-sex couples marrying, and the state’s refusal to recognize such marriages performed in other states. On May 9, 2014, a state judge found the law unconstitutional and struck it down, but a week later the Arkansas Supreme Court put the decision on hold. However, in the interim, approximately 450 same-sex couples were married.
The ACLU of Arkansas filed a brief in support of striking down the law. The Court did not issue a decision before the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges (an ACLU case) that the constitution guarantees same-sex couples the right to marry.
Status: Case dismissed after the U.S. Supreme Court decision guaranteeing the right to marry for same-sex couples.
CV-14-427 – Arkansas Supreme Court
