Love v. Pence

28 F. Supp. 3d 793, 2014 WL 2881569, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86118
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Indiana
DecidedJune 25, 2014
DocketNo. 4:14-cv-00015-RLY-TAB
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 28 F. Supp. 3d 793 (Love v. Pence) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Love v. Pence, 28 F. Supp. 3d 793, 2014 WL 2881569, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86118 (S.D. Ind. 2014).

Opinion

ENTRY ON DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS

RICHARD L. YOUNG, Chief Judge.

Michael Richard Pence, in his capacity as Governor of the State of Indiana, moves to dismiss the Plaintiffs’ Complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. For the reasons set forth below, the court GRANTS the motion.

I. Background

On March 7, 2014, Plaintiffs filed their Complaint challenging Indiana Code § 31-11-1-1, entitled “Same sex marriages prohibited,” otherwise known as Indiana’s Defense of Marriage Act. In pertinent part, the challenged statute provides:

(a) Only a female may marry a male. Only a male may marry a female.
(b) A marriage between persons of the same gender is void in Indiana even if the marriage is lawful in the place where it is solemnized.

The Plaintiffs are two unmarried same-sex couples and two same-sex couples married in other jurisdictions. (Complaint ¶¶ 1-9). Plaintiffs allege that Indiana’s Defense of Marriage Act violates the United States Constitution by denying same-sex couples the “rights, privileges, responsibilities, and immunities extended to similarly situated opposite-sex couples.” (Id. ¶ 18). Specifically, Plaintiffs argue that the statute violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the First Amendment right to freedom of association, the Full Faith and Credit Clause, the Supremacy Clause, the Fourteenth Amendment right to travel, and the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Plaintiffs named the Governor of the State of Indiana as the sole defendant, alleging that, “[b]y implementing and enforcing the statutes discussed below, Defendant has deprived, and continues to deprive, Plaintiffs of rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution.” (Id. ¶ 12).

II. Motion to Dismiss Standard

A motion to dismiss for lack of standing is a challenge to the court’s subject matter jurisdiction under Rule 12(b)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See Scanlan v. Eisenberg, 669 F.3d 838, 841-42 (7th Cir.2012). In ruling on a Rule 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss, the court must accept as true all well-pleaded factual allegations and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff. Id. (citation omit[795]*795ted). However, when faced with a challenge to its subject matter jurisdiction, the court may look beyond the complaint and review any other evidence to resolve the jurisdictional issue. Apex Digital, Inc. v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 572 F.3d 440, 444 (7th Cir.2009) (citations omitted). The burden is on the plaintiff to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that subject matter jurisdiction exists. Lee v. City of Chicago, 330 F.3d 456, 468 (7th Cir.2003) (citing Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 561, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992)).

III. Discussion

Article III, § 2, of the United States Constitution limits the jurisdiction of federal courts to the resolution of “cases” or “controversies.” One aspect of the case-or-controversy requirement is standing. Arizonans for Official English v. Arizona, 520 U.S. 43, 64, 117 S.Ct. 1055, 137 L.Ed.2d 170 (1997) (citing Northeastern Fla. Chapter, Associated Gen. Contractors of America v. Jacksonville, 508 U.S. 656, 663-664, 113 S.Ct. 2297, 124 L.Ed.2d 586 (1993) (standing to sue); Diamond v. Charles, 476 U.S. 54, 56, 106 S.Ct. 1697, 90 L.Ed.2d 48 (1986) (standing to defend on appeal)); O’Sullivan v. City of Chicago, 396 F.3d 843, 853 (7th Cir.2005). “When standing is placed in issue in a case, the question is whether the person whose standing is challenged is a proper party to request adjudication of a particular issue and not whether the issue itself is justiciable.” Flast v. Cohen, 392 U.S. 83, 99-100, 88 S.Ct. 1942, 20 L.Ed.2d 947 (1968).

The emphasis of Article III standing is on whether the plaintiffs have “ ‘a personal stake in the outcome of the controversy’ ”, and on “whether the dispute touches upon the ‘legal relations of the parties having adverse legal interests.’” O’Sullivan, 396 F.3d at 853 (quoting Flast, 392 U.S. 83, 101, 88 S.Ct. 1942 (1968)). To have standing, a plaintiff must' demonstrate: (1) an injury in fact that is concrete and particularized, as well as actual and imminent; (2) a causal connection between the injury and the conduct complained of, such that the injury is fairly traceable to the challenged action of the defendant; and (3) that it is likely, as opposed to merely speculative, that the injury will be redressed by a favorable opinion. Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560-61, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted).

According to Plaintiffs, they seek an injunction “directing the State of Indiana to issue a marriage license to Plaintiffs ... and prohibiting [the State] from refusing to issue marriage licenses to other same-sex couples based solely on their sex and/or sexual orientation.” Second, they request the State be enjoined from “denying the Plaintiff couples and all other same-sex couples the rights, burdens, and benefits associated with lawful marriage.” Lastly, they seek “an order directing [the State] to recognize marriages validly entered into by the Plaintiff couples and other same-sex couples outside the state of Indiana[.]” (Id. ¶ 15). They sued the Governor because he is the “chief executive officer of the State and is responsible for the faithful execution of the laws of the State ... including the laws that exclude same-sex couples from marrying or having their out-of-state marriages recognized.” (Id. ¶ 10).

The Governor maintains that he is not the proper defendant because the injuries of which the Plaintiffs complain are not fairly traceable to him, and cannot be redressed by him. Plaintiffs respond that the Governor is the Executive Head of State; thus, he has managerial authority [796]*796over the executive branch, including the power to order the circuit court clerks “to take specific actions” by executive order.

The executive orders Plaintiffs cite involved a specific statutory power of the Governor, not some general supervisory authority. Executive Orders 10-03 (Pis.’ Ex. 1 at 1) and 08-01 (Pis.’ Ex.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
28 F. Supp. 3d 793, 2014 WL 2881569, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86118, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/love-v-pence-insd-2014.