DeBoer v. Snyder is a lawsuit that was filed by April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse on January 23, 2012, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, challenging Michigan's ban on adoption by same-sex couples so they can jointly adopt their children. In August 2012, Judge Bernard A. Friedman invited the couple to amend their suit to challenge the state's ban on same-sex marriage, "the underlying issue". Following a hearing on October 16, 2013, Friedman scheduled a trial that ran from February 25 to March 7, 2014. On March 21, Judge Friedman issued his ruling overturning the ban. On March 22, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit placed a temporary hold on Judge Friedman's ruling. The appeal was argued on August 6. On November 6, the Sixth Circuit reversed Judge Friedman and upheld Michigan's ban on same-sex marriage.
The decision was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which, on January 16, 2015, consolidated this case with three others and agreed to review the case. Oral arguments were heard on April 28, 2015, and the Supreme Court struck down the state's same-sex marriage ban on June 26, 2015.
Background On January 23, 2012, a lesbian couple filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on behalf of themselves and three children, challenging the state's ban on adoption by same-sex couples so they can jointly adopt their children. The women are April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, both nurses. One has an adopted son and the other two adopted daughters, all with special needs. At the time of filing, Michigan law restricted second-parent adoption to married couples and did not license or recognize same-sex marriages.
In August 2012, Judge Bernard A. Friedman invited the couple to amend their suit to challenge the state's ban on same-sex marriage, "the underlying issue". They did so on September 7, 2012. To the original defendants, the governor and attorney-general of Michigan, they added the Oakland County Clerk.
The plaintiffs were originally represented by three private attorneys, Dana Nessel, Carole Stanyar and Kenneth M. Mogill, along with Wayne State University Distinguished Professor of Law Robert A. Sedler, an experienced litigator in civil rights cases. In January 2014, attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union and Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders joined them.
Hearing and trial On March 7, 2013, after hearing arguments in the case, Friedman announced that he would delay ruling pending the outcome of two same-sex marriage cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, United States v. Windsor and Hollingsworth v. Perry. National LGBT advocacy groups had recommended the delay. On July 1, citing the recent Supreme Court decision in United States v. Windsor, he denied the state officials' motion to dismiss the suit. Friedman heard arguments on motions in the case on October 16, 2013, and said he was unable to rule on the basis of the arguments. He said: "I'm in the middle. I have to decide this as a matter of law. I intend to do so." An attorney for one of the defendants, Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown, said she was eager to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples as soon as the law allowed her to do so. At the end of that hearing, Friedman scheduled the trial for February 25, 2014. On a motion by the plaintiffs, and over the objections of the defense, Friedman agreed on January 3, 2014, to divide the trial in two, reserving for a second phase, if needed, all discussion of the level of scrutiny appropriate to Michigan's denial of adoption and marriage rights to same-sex couples.
Witnesses for the plaintiffs The plaintiffs called witnesses from February 25, 2014, to February 28, 2014. Dr. David Brodzinsky A psychologist in the San Francisco Bay Area whose research and scholarly writings have focused on psychological issues in gay and lesbian parenting and adoption, adoption and foster care, stress and coping in children, non-traditional family life, child custody issues, and children's cognitive development. He was a founding director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute in New York and currently serves as the Research Director of the Institute's West Coast Office. He has testified in a number of previous cases, including the Baby M contested adoption case in New Jersey, the Baby Jessica case, the Woody Allen and Mia Farrow contested adoption and custody case in New York, and Baehr v. Miike. Brodzinsky testified on February 25, 2014 that there are no "discernible differences" in children who are raised by same-sex couples and youth raised by heterosexuals. Under cross-examination by Michigan Assistant Attorney General Joseph Potchen, Brodzinsky acknowledged that studies on the stability of same-sex couples were mixed, with some showing a higher breakup rate among same-sex couples.
Dr. Nancy Cott A professor of American history at Harvard University specializing in the history of gender and sexuality has researched gender roles and marriage trends for decades. Dr. Cott has testified for the plaintiffs in both United States v. Windsor and Hollingsworth v. Perry. Cott offered several examples of discriminatory practices involving marriages over the years which are no longer accepted, among them interracial marriages once being banned, American women who married foreigners once lost their citizenship and property, and the U.S. government at times not acknowledging Native American and Japanese marriages. Cott testified on February 28, 2014 that “The trend is moving toward same-sex gender neutrality/gender equality marriages; and the trend is moving toward same-sex marriages.” She also testified that “The Michigan Marriage Amendment obstructs that trend from continuing.” In explaining how marriage has evolved, Cott cited the 300-year ban on interracial marriage, which was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia in 1967. Cott said marriage is a “civil contract” that only be legally sanctioned by legislatures and the courts. In addressing religious objections to same-sex marriage, she said religious authorities have no legal standing over marriages even though they are allowed to conduct marriage ceremonies. Cott testified that there have been no laws in U.S. history that made procreation a requirement for marriage, an argument used by opponents of same-sex marriage. Under cross-examination by state attorney Michelle Brya, Cott admitted the state of Michigan does have an interest in marriage between a man and a woman for population purposes and sometimes economic reasons but did not believe those two issues should stand in the way of same-sex couples legally marrying.
Dr. Gary Gates Serves as the Williams Distinguished Scholar at the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law. His doctoral dissertation included the first significant research study using United States Census data to explore characteristics of same-sex couples. Dr. Gates has been an expert witness in several cases involving LGBT issues. He wrote a brief in support of the plaintiffs in the United States v. Windsor. He has also testified before the United States House Committee on Armed Services on repealing "Don't ask, don't tell" and before the United States Senate on LGBT inclusion in federal immigration law reforms. Gates testified on February 27, 2014 that 8.3 million people in the United States identify themselves as LGBT, including 287,000 Michigan residents whose numbers are growing, particularly among individuals under the age of 30 years. He also cited surveys which found 43% of Americans “see nothing wrong” with same-sex relationships compared to 13% in 1990.
Dr. Michael Rosenfeld An associate professor of sociology at Stanford University and a social demographer who studies race, ethnicity, and family structure, the family's effect on children, and the history of the family. Dr. Rosenfeld has examined the study by defense witness Regnerus. Some of the work by defense witness Allen is based on Rosenfeld's work which was based on the United States Census. Rosenfeld testified on February 26, 2014 that "there is no basis" for believing that kids develop better in a household led by a man and a woman. Broadly summarizing research in the field, he said "it’s clear that being raised by same-sex parents is no disadvantage to children." While cross-examining Rosenfeld, Assistant Attorney General Kristin Heyse suggested it was rational for voters to approve the same-sex marriage ban nearly 10 years ago because same-sex marriage in the U.S. was just emerging. Rosenfeld’s method of research was questioned by Heyse regarding the sample size used.
Dr. Vivek Sankaran A clinical professor of law at the University of Michigan in the Child Advocacy Law Clinic, and Director of the Detroit Center for Family Advocacy. Dr. Sankaran has litigated numerous cases before the Michigan Supreme Court on behalf of parents. He also was appointed by Governor Rick Snyder to the Child Abuse Prevention Board. Sankaran testified on February 26, 2014 that more children would be adopted if same-sex couples had the same joint-adoption rights as married heterosexual couples. He noted that nearly 14,000 children in Michigan’s foster care system need homes, saying that allowing joint adoption by same-sex couples would expand the pool of potential parents for those children, which includes about 3,500 orphans. Sankaran added that if one of them adopts a child as a single person, which the state allows, the other has no legal rights to custody of the child if the other parent dies or is incapacitated.
Dr. George Chauncey, who as a professor of history and American studies at Yale University and co-director of the Yale Research Initiative on the History of Sexualities had previously testified in the LGBT case Hollingsworth v. Perry, was expected to testify but had to cancel. He submitted written testimony.
Witnesses for the defense The defense called witnesses from March 3, 2014, to March 6, 2014.
Douglas W. Allen An economist at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia who makes ties between same-sex parenting and childhood instability by looking at couples from unstable homes and comparing them to those who have been raised consistently by two heterosexual parents. Allen takes a 2010 study by Michael Rosenfeld - who testified for the plaintiffs, and re-examines it by adding in the outliers. "We re-examine Rosenfeld's (2010) study on the association between child outcomes and same-sex family structure. Using the same data set, we replicate and generalize Rosenfeld's findings and show that the implications of his study are different when using either alternative comparison groups or alternative sample restrictions. Compared with traditional married households, we find that children being raised by same-sex couples are 35 percent less likely to make normal progress through school; this difference is statistically significant at the one percent level," states the brief for Allen's report. Signed onto an amicus brief with both Price and Regnerus urging the Supreme Court to uphold California’s Proposition 8. Allen was the defense's final witness and testified on March 6, 2014 that the state "should be very cautious in making such a fundamental change to such a fundamental institution when there really isn’t any evidence on the child outcomes." Allen argued that although U.S. psychology and sociology organizations have expressed consensus opinions that children of same-sex couples suffer no measurable disadvantages, conflicting results and limited data show that there's no such certainty on the matter. While maintaining he has no bias, he admitted that his religious views lead him to believe that homosexual acts are grounds for being sent to Hell.
Lisa Brown