Case Comparison

Unit 1

PA250 Family Law

Instructor: Jessica Gauvin
Lisa D Rowe
7/12/2011
The Court held that the denial of marriage licenses to same-sex couples violates the

Massachusetts state constitutional commitment to equality. Equality under the Massachusetts

Constitution requires that all persons in the same category and in the same circumstances be

treated alike. Both the Massachusetts Constitution and the U.S. Constitution includes race,

alienage, religion, and nationality under the equal protection clause in the Fourteenth

Amendment. The Equal Rights Amendment to Article I of the Massachusetts Constitution

forbids discrimination based upon sex; gender discrimination. “Both freedoms are involved here.

Whether and whom to marry, how to express sexual intimacy, and whether and how to establish

a family -- these are among the most basic of every individual's liberty and due process rights.”

See, e.g., Lawrence, supra at 2481; Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey, 505 U.S.

833, 851, 120 L. Ed. 2d 674, 112 S. Ct. 2791 (1992); Zablocki v. Redhail, 434 U.S. 374, 384, 54

L. Ed. 2d 618, 98 S. Ct. 673 (1978); Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 152-153, 35 L. Ed. 2d 147, 93

S. Ct. 705 (1973); Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438, 453, 31 L. Ed. 2d 349, 92 S. Ct. 1029

(1972); Loving v. Virginia, supra.

The Court held that distinctions between races were detestable against free people under the

Equal Protection Clause. The Court found that Virginia law had no legitimate purpose involving

racial discrimination. The Court did not accept the state's argument that the statute was valid

because it applied to both blacks and whites under the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court also

held that Virginia law violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. They

both violate the equal protection and Due Process clauses under the Fourteenth Amendment.

"Under our Constitution," wrote Chief Justice Earl Warren, "the freedom to marry, or not marry,

a person of another race resides with the individual, and cannot be infringed by the State."
They both violate the equal protection and due process clauses under the Fourteenth

Amendment.

I do not feel the state should be involved in deciding who a person can or cannot marry. I think

this should be an individual choice and not be made by the State or Federal government.