Richard Hodges et al., Respondents
Eric E. Murphy, Counsel of Record
In 200,4 61 percent of Ohio voters approved a State constitutional amendment prohibiting their government from recognizing same-sex marriages granted in other jurisdictions. Earlier that year, State lawmakers ad approved similar legislation. A group of 11 individuals who had entered same-sex marriages in other States sued Ohio and its Department of Health Director Lance Himes (later replaced by Richard Hodges) in 2013, alleging that the State’s failure to recognize their marriages on birth and death certificates violated their constitutional rights. A Federal district court ruled that Ohio’s ban ran counter to guarantees of due process and ordered the State to…
