Law360 Profiles Akin Gump Win in Texas Marriage Equality Case
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As part of its “How They Won It” series featuring notable litigation victories, Law360 has spotlighted a late-February Akin Gump win in “How They Won It: Akin Gump Defeats Texas Gay Marriage Ban.”
The case, which Akin Gump took on pro bono, involves two same-sex couples, one of which was denied a Texas marriage license, the other wants Texas to recognize an out-of-state marriage.
On February 26, U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia granted an injunction that prohibited Texas from enforcing its ban on same-sex marriages, noting “Without a rational relation to a legitimate governmental purpose, state-imposed inequality can find no refuge in our United States Constitution” and citing Supreme Court precedent that prohibits, inter alia, states passing legislation “born out of animosity against homosexuals” and the federal government treating same-sex and opposite-sex marriages differently.
When asked why the firm had taken on this case, Akin Gump litigation partner Neel Lane, who, with fellow partner Barry Chasnoff, co-led the team representing the plaintiffs, noted, “We care deeply about the issue. We thought the time was right in light of Windsor and the need could not have been more urgent.”
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in United States v. Windsor held that the “[Defense of Marriage Act] is unconstitutional as a deprivation of the equal liberty of persons that is protected by the Fifth Amendment.”
To read the full article, please click here.
To read Akin Gump’s February 26 news release on the victory, please click here.