The Work
October 10, 2008 5:13 PM
Connecticut Supreme Court Ruling Recognizes Gay Marriage
Posted by Zach Lowe
Connecticut today joined Massachusetts and California as the only states in the U.S. to allow gay marriage after its Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that the state's civil union system did not provide equality under the law.
Lawyers from the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders did the bulk of the arguing in the case, but three Am Law 100 firms submitted amicus briefs.
A team from Jenner & Block wrote the most powerful of those briefs on behalf of the American Psychological Association and other organizations. The brief is a stirring defense of gay rights that also seeks to debunk the notions that children raised by gay couples are more likely to become gay adults or struggle with sexual identity issues.
"The factors that cause an individual to become homosexual are not well understood," the brief says. "However, the available evidence indicates that the vast majority of lesbian and gay adults were raised by heterosexual parents, and the vast majority of children raised by lesbian and gay parents eventually grow up to be heterosexual."
Partners Paul Smith and William Hohengarten authored the brief along with associate Eric Berger.
A team from the Hartford firm Regnier, Taylor, Curran & Eddy coauthored the brief.
Jenner is rarely afraid to tackle controversial issues. In the last few months alone, firm lawyers have led attacks on lethal injection procedures and allegedly discriminatory funding of public schools in Chicago.
Smith argued the landmark 2003 Supreme Court case Lawrence v. Texas that struck down state laws banning gay sex as sodomy. He calls that case the high point of his career, and says Jenner will continue to write amicus briefs on behalf of the American Psychological Association, a longtime client, as more states take up the gay marriage issue.
"Maybe we're at the point that it's becoming not so controversial," Smith says.
Smith found out at 9 a.m. this morning that the Connecticut Supreme Court planned to release its ruling at 11:30. He began refreshing The Hartford Courant's Web site around then, waiting for the news, he says.
Lawyers from Bingham McCutchen and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr coauthored a separate amicus brief on behalf of several organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
The brief outlines the persecution of gays and lesbians in recent history and urges the court to examine any form of legal discrimination with the strictest scrutiny.
Stuart Rosen in Bingham's Hartford office says Washington, D.C.-based Wilmer parter Stuart Delery was the driving force behind the brief. Delery did not immediately return a phone message and e-mail seeking comment.
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