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Friday, March 29, 2024

Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage has been declared unconstitutional for the second time this month.

The Friday ruling by Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Sarah Zabel mirrored the decision made two weeks ago by Monroe County Circuit Judge Luis Garcia.

“Preventing couples from marrying solely on the basis of their sexual orientation serves no governmental interest,” Judge Zabel wrote in her opinion. 

She also ordered an immediate stay of her ruling. Attorney General Pam Bondi filed an appeal shortly after. 

Darren Hutchinson, a UF law professor, said most judges who have ruled in favor of same-sex couples have stayed their ruling in anticipation of appeals by state defendants, as Bondi has done in both Florida cases thus far. 

This puts the effects of the ruling on hold until a clean decision has been made. 

“They’re just trying to avoid the chaos that could result if couples started getting married and an appeals court later reversed the ruling favoring same-sex marriage,” Hutchinson said. 

Mallory Garner-Wells, public policy director of Equality Florida, the organization that filed the lawsuit along with six same-sex couples, said that it is likely that the Miami and Key West lawsuit will be combined into one case.

“They ask the same fundamental question: Should Florida recognize same-sex marriages?” She said. 

The Miami-Dade ruling is one of many court decisions striking down same-sex marriage bans in the U.S., most recently in Colorado and Virginia. 

“I think they’re moving past questions about morality to questions about equal protection under the 14th Amendment,” Steven Noll, a UF history professor said. “Even conservative judges that may feel homosexuality is not acceptable find that there is no legal justification that same-sex marriage is illegal.”

Both Garcia and Zabel were appointed by former Gov. Jeb Bush and re-elected.

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“These are not liberal judges castigated by the right as makers of new law. It’s not a liberal fringe that’s moving the country this way,” Noll said. “It’s people who follow the law.”

Hutchinson believes that both judges felt comfortable by ruling in favor of same-sex marriage because they’re aware of how public opinion on the issue is shifting.

“When judges make decisions in controversial cases, they try to be aware of how the decision will be received,” Hutchinson said. “The judges in Florida know the tide is turning.”

[A version of this story ran on page 9 on 7/29/2014 under the headline "Second Florida judge OKs same-sex marriage"]

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