Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has submitted a brief arguing that the state should not have to recognize the marriage of a gay resident suffering from a terminal illness
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder (right) has submitted a brief arguing that the state should not have to recognize the marriage of a gay man suffering from a terminal illness, reports the Washington Blade.
The five-page brief presented to the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Michigan on April 16 East Grand Rapids couple Brian Merucci and Bruce Morgan. Morgan is suffering from brain cancer.
Although the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a 2014 decision striking down Michigan's gay marriage ban, Snyder has acceded to the decision in Caspar v. Snyder requiring the state to recognize the marriages of couples who wed during a window period after the initial court ruling.
However, Snyder has argued Caspar v. Snyder does not provide for the recognition of Merucci and Morgan's marriage.
“The only circumstance cited by Plaintiffs not previously considered by this Court is the decision in Caspar. But Caspar is non-precedential and factually distinguishable.
"Consequently, the legal and factual landscapes relevant to staying this case remain the same as they did when this Court issued the stay, and Plaintiffs' motion should be denied.”
Morgan v. Snyder was filed in June 2014, but the case was stayed in as marriage litigation was pending before the Sixth Circuit. Earlier this month, Merucci and Snyder sought a relief from the stay in the aftermath of the decision in the Caspar case.
Watch a report on the case, AFTER THE JUMP…
