Resurrecting case on same-sex marriage ban draws opposition

CARSON CITY — Both Gov. Brian Sandoval and Lambda Legal, the group that successfully challenged Nevada’s ban on same-sex marriage in court, filed their opposition Wednesday to a request for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear the case.

The request for an en banc rehearing of the decision in Sevcik vs. Sandoval was filed by the Coalition for the Protection of Marriage, which defended Nevada’s ban on same sex marriage in the case.

Filings in the request for rehearing were due Wednesday. The court will now rule on the request. Rehearings by the full appeals court are rare.

In his filing, Sandoval and Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said none of the points raised by the coalition merited an en banc rehearing.

“The legal resolution of the matter in Nevada is in the public interest and should not be deferred by further proceedings,” they said in the filing.

Lambda Legal, which brought the challenge to Nevada’s ban on behalf of eight same-sex couples, said in its filing that the coalition lacks legal standing to petition the court for rehearing. It also argued that a claim that the assignment of the three judges who ruled on the case was biased constituted a “baseless attack” on the integrity of the court.

“The parties and the challenged laws received a fair hearing that resulted in the only outcome permitted by precedent,” Lambda attorney Tara Borelli said in the response. “As a result, the institution of marriage has now shed a discriminatory barrier and gained ‘models of loving commitment to all’ in its place.”

In its petition, the coalition argued that the assignment of the case to the three-judge panel that ruled on Oct. 7 was “not done through a neutral process but rather was done in order to influence the outcome in favor of the plaintiffs.”

An analysis attached to the petition “shows a substantial and significant bias in the selection process.”

The 9th Circuit Court panel on Oct. 7 overturned Nevada’s ban, finding that it imposed “profound legal, financial, social and psychic harms” on many of its citizens.

Later that week, Nevada county clerks began issuing licenses to same sex couples, a process which has continued uninterrupted.

Contact Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Find him on Twitter: @seanw801.