Friday, January 31, 2014

Hearing In Virginia Marriage Case Reset for February 4, 2014 at 10:00AM


Due to the snow storm that hit the Hampton Roads area on Tuesday and Wednesday of the week, the hearing on oral arguments in Bostic v. Rainey, which challenges the constitutionality of Virginia's anti-gay Marshall Newman-Amendment originally set for yesterday had to be rescheduled due to road conditions (the City of Norfolk seemingly did little or nothing to city roads outside of clearing the Interstates).  The hearing has been rescheduled to Tuesday, February 4, 2014, at 10:00 AM.   Among those expected are Ted Olson and David Boies and Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring (whom I spoke with on Tuesday about the brief his office filed).  Here are details from the American Foundation for Equal Rights:  
Federal District Court of Eastern Virginia will hold its first hearing in the Bostic case for marriage equality on Tuesday, February 4 at 10 a.m EST.  Oral argument was originally scheduled for Thursday, but was canceled due to inclement weather conditions.

The hearing is expected to  last two and a half hours. AFER’s attorneys will make the case that bans on marriage for gay and lesbian couples, like that in Virginia, violate the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. The plaintiffs are two couples: Tim and Tony, who have been together for nearly 25 years, and Carol and Mary, who have been together for nearly 30 years.

This is the first time the plaintiffs are appearing in court.

No comments: