Brandon-Thomas v. Brandon-Thomas

163 So. 3d 644, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 6051, 2015 WL 1874457
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedApril 24, 2015
Docket2D14-761
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 163 So. 3d 644 (Brandon-Thomas v. Brandon-Thomas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brandon-Thomas v. Brandon-Thomas, 163 So. 3d 644, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 6051, 2015 WL 1874457 (Fla. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinions

PER CURIAM.

Danielle Brandon-Thomas and Krista Brandon-Thomas1 are a same-sex • couple who were legally married in Massachusetts in October 2012. They subsequently moved to Florida. Once here, the marriage soured, and Danielle filed a petition for dissolution of marriage in October 2013.2 ■ Krista opposed the petition, arguing that because Florida did not recognize same-sex marriage, the court had no jurisdiction to dissolve the marriage even though it had been legally entered into in another state. She pointed to section 741.212, Florida Statutes (2013), commonly known as Florida’s Defense of Marriage [646]*646Act, in support of her argument.3 The trial court concluded that it was bound by section 741.212 and dismissed the petition. Danielle now appeals that dismissal. Consistent with the requirements of the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the United States Constitution, we reverse.

The Full Faith and Credit Clause provides that “Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State.” Art. VI, § 1, U.S. Const. This clause requires each state to recognize judgments obtained in the courts of other states to prevent one state from selectively enforcing the laws of the others. See Trauger v. A.J. Spagnol Lumber Co., 442 So.2d 182, 183 (Fla.1983) (citing Morris v. Jones, 329 U.S. 545, 67 S.Ct. 451, 91 L.Ed. 488 (1947)). By requiring each state to respect the laws and actions of-the other states, the Constitution “alter[ed] the status of the several states as independent foreign sovereign-ties, each free to ignore the obligations created under the laws or by the judicial proceedings of the others, and [made] them integral parts of a single nation throughout which a remedy upon a just obligation might be demanded as of right, irrespective of the state of its origin.”' Milwaukee Cnty. v. M.E. White Co., 296 U.S. 268, 277, 56 S.Ct. 229, 80 L.Ed. 220 (1935). And while neither Florida nor any other state is required to give full faith and credit to another state’s laws and judgments that conflict with that state’s legitimate public policy, see, e.g., Nevada v. Hall, 440 U.S. 410, 422, 99 S.Ct. 1182, 59 L.Ed.2d 416 (1979) (holding that the Full Faith and Credit Clause “does not require a State to apply another State’s law in violation of its own legitimate public policy”); Johnson v. Lincoln Square Props., Inc., 571 So.2d 541, 542 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990) (“Florida law does not have to give full faith and credit to another state’s law when it is repugnant to the interest of Florida.”), the Full Faith and Credit Clause “ought not lightly to be set aside.” Milwaukee Cnty., 296 U.S. at 277, 56 S.Ct. 229.

Thus, there are circumstances in which a state might seek, to give full faith and credit to some out-of-state laws and judgments but not others, based on public policy considerations. But a state may not do so in a manner that runs afoul of the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution.4 Under the Equal Protection Clause, persons who are similarly situated may not be classified and treated differently because “the Constitution ‘neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.’ ” Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620, 623, 116 S.Ct. 1620, 134 L.Ed.2d 855 (1996) (quoting Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537, 559, 16 S.Ct. 1138, 41 L.Ed. 256 (1896) (Harlan, J., dissenting)). Further, the substantive component of the Due Process Clause5 also acts to limit state authority to enact measures that impinge on fundamental rights, even if enacted with appropriate procedural safeguards. Brenner v. Scott, 999 F.Supp.2d 1278, 1287 (N.D.Fla.2014).

Under the Due Process Clause, we apply strict scrutiny in reviewing governmental action that infringes upon fun- ■ damental rights. See Brenner, 999 [647]*647F.Supp.2d at 1287. Thus, the law will survive constitutional challenge only if it is “narrowly tailored to serve a compelling state interest.” Washington v. Glucksberg, 521 U.S. 702, 721, 117 S.Ct. 2258, 138 L.Ed.2d 772 (1997) (quoting Reno v. Flores, 507 U.S. 292, 302, 113 S.Ct. 1439, 123 L.Ed.2d 1 (1993)); see State v. J.P., 907 So.2d 1101, 1110 (Fla.2004). Under the Equal Protection Clause, we also apply strict scrutiny in reviewing governmental action that infringes upon fundamental rights or discriminates based on suspect classifications. See id.

If the right is not fundamental, we subject the alleged constitutional infringement to a rational basis review. See id. Under the rational basis standard, “a law will be sustained if it can be said to advance a legitimate government interest, even if the law seems unwise or works to the disadvantage of a particular group, or if the rationale for it seems tenuous.” Romer, 517 U.S. at 632, 116 S.Ct. 1620. Under both due process and equal protection analysis, the first step is to determine whether the asserted right is fundamental. Brenner, 999 F.Supp.2d at 1287.

Under Florida law, sexual-orientation is not a protected class entitled to strict-serutiny analysis. D.M.T. v. T.M.H., 129 So.3d 320, 341-42 (Fla.2013). It follows that the right of a same-sex couple to seek a dissolution of marriage in Florida, when they were validly married in another state but now live in Florida, is not a fundamental right for federal constitutional purposes. Thus, Florida bears the burden of presenting only a rational basis for its classification. See United States v. Windsor, — U.S. -, 133 S.Ct. 2675, 2716-17, 186 L.Ed.2d 808 (2013).6 To meet this burden, the state must only have a legitimate purpose for the law or statute at issue. FCC v. Beach Commc’ns, Inc., 508 U.S. 307, 313, 113 S.Ct. 2096, 124 L.Ed.2d 211 (1993). Said another way, such a classification will pass constitutional muster “if there is any reasonably conceivable state of facts that could provide a rational basis for the classification.” Id.

In applying this standard, we note that the State of Florida regularly recognizes heterosexual marriages validly performed in other jurisdictions as legitimate, and it entertains dissolution proceedings filed by heterosexual couples who were legally married in all other states, as well as in other countries. Florida also recognizes common law marriages entered into in states that accept common law marriages, even though Florida itself does not recognize common law marriages contracted for in Florida after 1968. See Smith v. Anderson, 821 So.2d 323, 325 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002).

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Bluebook (online)
163 So. 3d 644, 2015 Fla. App. LEXIS 6051, 2015 WL 1874457, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brandon-thomas-v-brandon-thomas-fladistctapp-2015.