Doc 61 - Plaintiffs' Reply in support of Judgment on the Pleadings
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Tracy L. Zubrod ZUBROD LAW OFFICE, PC 219 East 18th Street Cheyenne, WY 82001 Telephone: (307) 778-2557 Facsimile: (307) 778-8225 Email: [email protected]Thomas W. Stoever, Jr. ARNOLD & PORTER LLP 370 Seventeenth Street, Suite 4400 Denver, Colorado 80202-1370 Telephone: (303) 863-1000 Facsimile: (303) 832-0428 Email: [email protected]Qusair Mohamedbhai Arash Jahanian RATHOD MOHAMEDBHAI LLC 1518 Blake Street Denver, CO 80202 Telephone: (303) 578-4400 Facsimile: (303) 578-4401 Email: [email protected]Shannon P. Minter Christopher F. Stoll NATIONAL CENTER FOR LESBIAN RIGHTS 870 Market Street, Suite 370 San Francisco, CA 94102 Telephone: (415) 365-1335 Facsimile: (415) 392-8442 Email: [email protected]Attorneys for Plaintiffs Case 2:14-cv-00200-SWS Document 61 Filed 12/12/14 Page 1 of 7
Transcript
Tracy L. ZubrodZUBROD LAW OFFICE, PC219 East 18th StreetCheyenne, WY 82001Telephone: (307) 778-2557Facsimile: (307) 778-8225Email: [email protected]
Thomas W. Stoever, Jr.ARNOLD & PORTER LLP370 Seventeenth Street, Suite 4400Denver, Colorado 80202-1370Telephone: (303) 863-1000Facsimile: (303) 832-0428Email: [email protected]
Shannon P. MinterChristopher F. StollNATIONAL CENTER FORLESBIAN RIGHTS870 Market Street, Suite 370San Francisco, CA 94102Telephone: (415) 365-1335Facsimile: (415) 392-8442Email: [email protected]
Attorneys for Plaintiffs
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTDISTRICT OF WYOMING
)Plaintiffs, )
)Anne Marie Guzzo and Bonnie Robinson; )Ivan Williams and Charles Killion; )Brie Barth and Shelly Montgomery; )Carl Oleson and Rob Johnston; and )Wyoming Equality, )
)v. ) Case No. 14-cv-00200-SWS
)Defendants, )
)Matthew H. Mead, in his official capacity )as the Governor of Wyoming; Dean Fausset, in his official )capacity as Director of the Wyoming Department of )Administration and Information; Dave Urquidez, in his )official capacity as Administrator of the State of Wyoming )Human Resources Division; and Debra K. Lathrop, in her )official capacity as Laramie County Clerk, )_____________________________________________________________________________
PLAINTIFFS’ REPLY IN SUPPORT OF THEIRMOTION FOR JUDGMENT ON THE PLEADINGS
Plaintiffs submit this reply brief in support of their Motion for Judgment on the
Pleadings. Doc. 56 After reviewing the response brief filed by the State Defendants, Plaintiffs
ask the Court to consider three points.
First, all of the parties -- Plaintiffs, the State Defendants, and Laramie County Clerk
Debra Lathrop -- agree that judgment on the pleadings is appropriate. Thus, there is no
opposition to the Court entering judgment for the Plaintiffs in this case.
Second, Plaintiffs and Ms. Lathrop agree on the form of a judgment. Exhibit A to
Plaintiff’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings is a stipulation between Ms. Lathrop and
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Plaintiffs indicating their agreement with the form of the proposed judgment. Mot. Ex. A [Doc.
56-1]. Thus, the only opposition to the Plaintiffs’ proposed judgment comes from the State
Defendants.
Third, the State Defendants’ opposition to the judgment proposed by Plaintiffs is found
in the penultimate paragraph of their response brief. The only opposition raised by the State
Defendants is that the form of judgment proposed by Plaintiffs “requires the State Defendants to
issue or permit the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples.” Resp. at 4 [Doc. 60].
Accordingly, the State Defendants do not object to anything contained in the first four
paragraphs of Plaintiffs’ proposed judgment. See Mot. at 4 [Doc. 56]. They take issue with the
fifth paragraph only; the relevant portion requires Defendants to “issue or permit issuance of
marriage licenses” to same-sex couples. Id.
This language does not, as Defendants argue, “require that State officials assume
responsibilities beyond their statutory mandate.” Resp. at 4 [Doc. 60]. The State Defendants
have read too much into that language. It does not require the State Defendants to issue marriage
licenses. Rather, it requires the State Defendants to ensure that county clerks and other officials
within their control fulfill their obligations under the law.1 See, e.g., Wyo. Stat. 18-3-902
(requiring the Governor to direct the Attorney General to remove a county official guilty of
misconduct); Wyo. Stat. 6-5-107 (public official commits a misdemeanor for failing to perform a
duty imposed by law).
As this Court recognized in its Order granting Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary
Injunction and Temporary Restraining Order, “Governor Mead and the other State Defendants
1 This limitation is clear from the joint stipulation, which proposes that the State Defendants be“directed to require any state or local officials within the State Defendants’ control to issuemarriage licenses to same-sex couples . . . .” Mot. Ex. A at 3 [Doc. 56-1] (emphasis added).
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have demonstrated a ‘willingness to exercise’ their duty to ensure county clerks, other state
officials, and state agencies enforce Wyoming’s prohibition against same-sex marriage.” Doc.
41 at 5-6 (citing Kitchen v. Herbert, 755 F.3d 1193, 1203 (10th Cir. 2014)). In that Order, the
Court referenced the Governor’s direction to the Attorney General to continue defending
Wyoming’s refusal to grant and recognize the marriages of same-sex couples. Requiring the
State Defendants to enforce the law is important in this case. Governor Mead has said that he is
personally opposed to same-gender marriage (D. Bleizeffer, Wyoming same-sex marriage ban
overturned, Mead will not appeal, October 17, 2014 found at:
appeal/#sthash.KluLbG5R. (Exhibit A). This raises the concern that the Governor and/or the
Attorney General (whom the Governor appoints) might refuse to enforce this law (or be slow to
enforce it) under the guise or prosecutorial discretion or demands on the resources of the
Attorney General’s office.
The State Defendants’ control over the issuance of marriage licenses is carried out
primarily through the State Registrar of Vital Records, who is advised by the Attorney General.
See Wyo. Stat. §§ 35-1-404(a), 35-1-422(a) (providing that the State Registrar regulates marriage
licenses and determines their content); Wyo. Stat. § 9-1-603(a)(vi) (providing that the Attorney
General gives “written opinions upon questions submitted to him by elective and appointive state
officers”). On October 24, 2014, the Attorney General’s office responded to a letter from Ms.
Lathrop to the Registrar of Vital Records “regarding the State’s licensure and certification of
marriage.” (Exhibit B) The Attorney General’s letter advised Ms. Lathrop “that a new iteration
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of the marriage license and certification of marriage form is currently under review,” and that her
office could “continue to use the gender-neutral form released last week” by the Registrar. Id.2
In sum, the language of Plaintiff’s proposed judgment is consistent with the relief
requested in Plaintiffs’ Complaint; has been agreed to by one of the Defendants, Ms. Lathrop; is
opposed only insofar as the State Defendants believe it would require them to issue marriage
licenses; and, in fact, it does not require the State to issue marriage licenses. The proposed
judgment merely requires the State Defendants to enforce the law, which requires county clerks,
other state officials, and state agencies to permit qualified same-gender couples to marry on an
equal basis with opposite-sex couples and to recognize the valid marriages between same-gender
couples performed in other jurisdictions.
CONCLUSION
For the reasons stated above and elsewhere in the pleadings and papers on file in this
matter, Plaintiffs ask the Court to grant their Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings and enter the
judgment proposed therein.
Respectfully submitted this 12th day of December, 2014.
s/ Thomas W. Stoever, Jr.Thomas W. Stoever, Jr.ARNOLD & PORTER LLP370 Seventeenth Street, Suite 4400Denver, Colorado 80202-1370Telephone: (303) 863-1000Facsimile: (303) 832-0428Email: [email protected]
2 Similarly, in 1947 the Attorney General issued an opinion relating to Wyoming’s marriagelaws, including “the issuance of licenses, returns of those performing the marriage ceremony andthe methods for requests and the methods for keeping the records.” Ex. 3, App’x B to Def.Lathrop’s Resp. to Pls’ Mot. for Prelim. Inj. [Doc. 16].
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Tracy L. ZubrodZUBROD LAW OFFICE, PC219 East 18th StreetCheyenne, WY 82001Telephone: (307) 778-2557Facsimile: (307) 778-8225Email: [email protected]
Shannon P. MinterChristopher F. StollNATIONAL CENTER FORLESBIAN RIGHTS870 Market Street, Suite 370San Francisco, CA 94102Telephone: (415) 365-1335Facsimile: (415) 392-8442Email: [email protected] for Plaintiffs
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
This is to certify that a copy of the foregoing has been filed with the Clerk of Court onthis 12th day of December, 2014 and served upon the following via the Court’s ECF system andby U.S. First Class mail:
Peter K. Michael,Attorney General of WyomingMartin L. Hardsocg,Deputy Attorney GeneralJames C. Kaste,Deputy Attorney GeneralJared S. Crecelius,Senior Assistant Attorney GeneralRyan T. Schelhaas,Senior Assistant Attorney GeneralMichael M. Robinson,Senior Assistant Attorney General123 State Capitol BuildingCheyenne, WY 82002
Attorneys for the State Defendants
Mark Towne VossBernard P Haggerty310 W. 19th Street, Suite 320Cheyenne, WY 82001
Attorneys for the Laramie County Clerk
s/ Rebecca A. GolzRebecca A. Golz
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EXHIBIT A
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EXHIBIT B
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Office of the Attorney General Governor Matthew H Mead
Attorney General Peter K. Michael
Human Services Division 123 State Capitol
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82002 307-777-6397 Telephone
307-777-3435 Fax
Chief Deputy Attorney General John G. Knepper
Division Deputy Robin Sessions Cooley
October 24, 2014
Bernard P. Haggerty Deputy County Attorney Laramie County Attorney's Office 310 West 19th Street, Suite 320 Cheyenne, WY 82001 copy sent via email to: [email protected]
Re: State of Wyoming License and Certificate of Marriage
Mr. Haggerty,
The Department of Health's Vital Records Service asked me to respond to
your October 21, 2014 letter regarding the State's licensure and certification of
marriage. Please know that a new iteration of the marriage license and certification
of marriage form is currently under review. Your thoughts and recommendations,
as well as comments received by others, continue to be very helpful as Vital Records
Services updates these documents following Judge Skavdahl's entry of the
preliminary injunction in Guzzo v. Mead. The next iteration of that form will be
open to comment by the Wyoming County Clerks Association before it is finalized.
In the mean time, the Laramie County Clerk's Office may continue to use the
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Bern Haggerty October 24, 2014
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gender-neutral form released last week. If you have any additional questions or
comments, please feel free to get in touch with Dr. McBride or me.
o,: rr. rch ef .sistant Attorney General
eNlir
c: Jim McBride, Deputy Registrar Vital Records Services
Wyoming Department of Health
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