Jackson v. Abercrombie

282 F.R.D. 507, 2012 WL 2053204, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81056
CourtDistrict Court, D. Hawaii
DecidedMay 2, 2012
DocketCiv. No. 11-00734 ACK-KSC
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 282 F.R.D. 507 (Jackson v. Abercrombie) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Hawaii primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jackson v. Abercrombie, 282 F.R.D. 507, 2012 WL 2053204, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81056 (D. Haw. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING HAWAII FAMILY FORUM’S MOTION TO INTERVENE PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

ALAN C. KAY, Senior District Judge.

On December 7, 2011, Plaintiffs Natasha N. Jackson and Janin Kleid filed suit against Hawaii Governor Neil S. Abercrombie and Loretta J. Fuddy, Director of Hawaii’s Department of Health (“Defendants”). Doc. No. 1. On January 27, 2012, Plaintiffs filed a First Amended Complaint (“Am. Compl.”), adding Gary Bradley as a plaintiff and expanding Plaintiffs’ claims. Doc. No. 6. Specifically, Plaintiffs challenge Hawaii Revised Statutes (“H.R.S.”) § 572-1, which states that a valid marriage contract shall be only between a man and woman, and Article I, Section 23 of the Hawaii Constitution (the “marriage amendment”), which provides that “[t]he legislature shall have the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples.” Plaintiffs assert that these two laws violate the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the United States Constitution. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 94-104.

[510]*510On February 21, 2012, Defendants filed separate answers to the Amended Complaint. Doc. Nos. 9-10. In his answer, Defendant Abercrombie stated that he “admits that to the extent HRS § 572-1 allows opposite sex couples, but not same sex couples, to get married, it violates the Due Process Clause and Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution.” Doc. No. 9 (“Aber-crombie’s Answer”), at 2. In Defendant Fud-dy’s answer, she denies that § 572-1 and the marriage amendment violate the Constitution. Doc. No. 10 (“Fuddy’s Answer”), at 6-7.

On March 1, 2012, Hawaii Family Forum (“HFF”) filed a motion to intervene as a defendant (“HFF’s Motion”). Doc. No. 15. HFF also filed a proposed answer denying that Hawaii’s marriage laws are unconstitutional. Doc. No. 16. On April 9, 2012, Defendant Fuddy filed a memorandum in support of HFF’s Motion (“Fuddy’s Mem.”). Doc. No. 23. Also on April 9, 2012, Plaintiffs and Defendant Abercrombie filed memoran-da in opposition to HFF’s Motion (“Pis.’ Opp’n” and “Abercrombie’s Opp’n,” respectively). Doc. Nos. 24, 27. Plaintiffs also filed a request that the Court take judicial notice of several exhibits attached to then-opposition.1 Doc. No. 26. On April 16, 2012, HFF filed a reply in support of its Motion (“HFF’s Reply”). Doc. No. 34. On April 24, 2012, HFF submitted a supplemental authority it intended to rely on at the hearing. Doc. No. 40. On April 25, 2012, Plaintiffs submitted a supplemental authority in support of their opposition. Doe. No. 41.

The Court held a hearing on HFF’s Motion on April 30, 2012.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND 2

I. Same-Sex Marriage in Hawaii

In Hawaii, same-sex marriage has been the subject of much litigation and legislation. In May 1991, several same-sex couples filed a lawsuit seeking a declaration that § 572-1 violated the equal protection, due process, and privacy components of the Hawaii Constitution in so far as it had been interpreted and applied by the Hawaii Department of Health to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Baehr v. Lewin, 74 Haw. 530, 852 P.2d 44, 48-49 (1993). The trial judge rejected the plaintiffs’ claims and granted a motion for judgment on the pleadings in favor of the defendants. See id. at 52. On appeal, a plurality of the Hawaii Supreme Court held that the Hawaii statute restricting marriage to a male and a female couple discriminates on the basis of sex, which constitutes a suspect category for purposes of equal protection analysis under the Hawaii Constitution. Id. at 63-67. Because the trial judge had reviewed the marriage statutes for a rational basis., the Hawaii Supreme Court remanded to the trial court to review it under the strict scrutiny standard that applies to suspect categories. Id. at 68-69. On December 3,1996, on remand, the trial judge ruled that § 572-1 violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Hawaii Constitution. See Baehr v. Miike, Civ. No. 91-1394, 1996 WL 694235 (Haw.Cir. Ct. Dec. 3, 1996).

Meanwhile, in 1994, the Legislature amended § 572-1 to clarify the Legislature’s intention that marriage should be limited to those of the opposite sex. Act of June 22, 1994, No. 217, 1994 Haw. Sess. Laws 526 (codified as amended at Haw.Rev.Stat. § 572-1). The legislature did so by adding the following underlined language to 572-1: “In order to make valid the marriage contract, which shall be only between a man and a woman ....” Id.

In 1997, the Legislature passed a proposed amendment to the Hawaii State Constitution to include a new section titled “Marriage” that states “[t]he legislature shall have the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples.” 1997 Haw. Sess. Laws 383. In November 1998, the people ratified the [511]*511amendment via a ballot. See Haw. Const. Art. I, § 23. On December 9, 1999, the Hawaii Supreme Court issued a four-page unpublished summary disposition of an appeal of the trial court’s decision finding § 572-1 violated the Hawaii Constitution. Baehr v. Miike, No. 20371, 92 Hawai‘i 634, 994 P.2d 566, 1999 Haw. LEXIS 391 (Haw. Dee. 9, 1999). The court held that the case was moot in light of the marriage amendment. Id. at *8. Specifically, the court held that “the passage of the marriage amendment placed HRS § 572-1 on new footing” and “validated HRS § 572-1 by taking the statute out of the ambit of the equal protection clause of the Hawaii Constitution, at least insofar as the statute, both on its face and as applied, purported to limit access to the marital status to opposite-sex couples.” Id. at *6.

After several failed attempts, in 2011, the legislature enacted H.R.S. Chapter 572B (the “civil unions law”), which provides for civil unions between same-sex couples. The civil unions law gives partners to a civil union all of the same state legal rights granted to married couples. See H.R.S. § 572B-9.

In this suit, Plaintiffs challenge § 572-1 and the marriage amendment as unconstitutional under the federal Constitution, asserting inter alia, that “[b]eeause the manifest policy of Hawaii law is to give identical legal treatment to spouses and to partners in civil unions under Hawaii law, the State’s continuing to deny same sex couples the right to marry, while permitting opposite sex couples to choose freely between marriage and civil unions, does not have a rational purpose furthering any lawful policy of the State, is purely an act of discrimination based upon the sex and sexual preferences of same sex couples, and is unlawful.” Am. Compl. ¶ 73.

II. Hawaii Family Forum

HFF was incorporated on January 15, 1998. Pis.’ Opp’n 2. The Internal Revenue Service (“I.R.S.”) recognizes HFF as an organization described in 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3) (a “501(c)(3) organization”), thus qualifying HFF for favorable tax treatment.3 See id.

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282 F.R.D. 507, 2012 WL 2053204, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81056, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jackson-v-abercrombie-hid-2012.