Professor Joslin Drafts Amicus Brief in Same-Sex Marriage Cases

Professor Courtney Joslin was one of the drafters of an amicus brief that was filed on behalf of more than 50 family law scholars in three separate same-sex marriage cases pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

The Appellants/Defendants in these cases have argued that the marriage bans are necessary in order to further the state's interest in the well-being of children and procreation.

The amici respond that procreation is neither the central purpose nor a requirement for marriage, and that the Appellants/Defendants' assertions regarding child welfare are unsupported by empirical evidence. Same-sex marriage bans serve only to signal that the relationships of same-sex couples "are deemed unequal" by the state, they write.

"As the Supreme Court recently reaffirmed, a desire to mark same-sex couples as less worthy of respect is an insufficient interest to sustain a law," the brief states.

Professor Joslin is a scholar in the field of family and relationship recognition, with a particular focus on same-sex and non-marital couples.