Li and Kennedy et al. v. State of Oregon, et al. Amicus Briefs Filed on Behalf of the Plaintiffs Oregon Supreme Court Case No. SC S51612
1. Amici Curiae Brief of Oregon and National Religious Leaders and Organizations. Filed by James N. Westwood of Stoel Rives LLP in Portland and Pamela Harris, Toby Heytens and Karl Michael Remon Thompson of O'Melveny & Myers, LLP, on behalf of 30 religious organizations and individuals, this brief reflects special expertise in the area of religious marriage. The amici discuss the history of civil marriage in Oregon and the fact that the extension of the civil right to marry will have no effect on the right of religious communities to determine for themselves which unions to recognize or which marriage ceremonies to perform. Amici include American Friends Service Committee, National Coalition of American Nuns, Unitarian Universalist Association, Alliance of Baptists and Oregon religious leaders from numerous religious denominations, including Evangelical Lutherans, Presbyterians, United Methodists, Judiasm, United Church of Christ, Unitarian Universalist, and Episcopalians.
2. Amici Curiae Brief of Professors of Oregon Constitutional Law. Filed by Chin See Ming of Perkins Coie LLP in Portland and Les Swanson on behalf of 12 top legal scholars in the field of Oregon constitutional law, including Stephen Kanter, current Professor of Constitutional Law and former Dean of Lewis & Clark Law school; James Huffman, Professor of Constitutional Law and current Dean of Lewis & Clark Law school; Professor Garrett Epps, Professor at University of Oregon Law School and author of To an Unknown God: Religious Freedom on Trial; Gilbert Paul Carrasco, Professor of Constitutional Law at Willamette University College of Law and author of forthcoming book, Sexuality & Discrimination: A Rights & Liberties Perspective; as well as Professors Paula Abrams, Vincent Chiappetta, Steven K. Green, M.H. "Sam" Jacobson, Susan F. Mandiberg, James M. O'Fallon, Margaret Paris and Dean M. Richardson. The brief concludes that the appropriate remedy for the constitutional violation in this case is to extend the right to marry to same-sex couples. The brief further concludes that, from an academic standpoint, there are no "historical exceptions" to the equal privileges and immunities guarantee.
3. Amici Curiae Brief of Vermont, National Gay & Lesbian and Heterosexual Rights Organizations. Filed by Mark Johnson of Johnson Renshaw & Lechman-Su PC, in Portland, and Leslie Harris and Michael Moffitt, Professors of Law at University of Oregon School of Law, and Susan M. Murray and Beth Robinson of Langrock Sperry & Wool, LLP in Burlington, Vermont, on behalf of 16 Vermont and national gay, lesbian and heterosexual organizations, including Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force, Vermonters for Civil Unions Legislative Defense Fund, PridePlanners, Pride at Work - AFL-CIO, PFLAG, National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, National Black Justice Coalition, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Human Rights Campaign, Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, Asian Equality, and Heterosexuals for the Rights of Gays & Lesbians to Marry. This brief demonstrates that marriage itself is a "privilege" covered by the equal privileges and immunities guarantee. It further demonstrates that marriage confers significant advantages that "civil unions" cannot.
4. Amici Curiae Brief of Civil Rights Organizations and Leaders and Oregon Historians. Filed by Charles F. Hinkle of Stoel Rives LLP in Portland, on behalf of 21 Oregon and national civil rights organizations and leaders including the Urban League of Portland, Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon, the Japanese American Citizens League, the Korean American Citizens League, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium, the Oregon Minority Lawyers Association, the Oregon Chapter of the National Bar Association, Oregon State Senators Margaret Carter and Avel L. Gordly, former Oregon State Treasurer Jim Hill, and professors Peggy Pascoe and Julie Novkov. This brief concludes that a violation of the equal privileges and immunities guarantee in this case cannot be remedied by shunting same-sex couples into a separate but purportedly equal institution such as civil unions. It also refutes the argument that the promise of equality in the Oregon constitution should be limited to the concepts of equality held by the delegates to the Oregon constitutional convention in 1857 for fear that it will be rendered meaningless for all minority groups.
5. Amici Curiae Brief of Organizations That Represent Gay and Lesbian Oregonians and Their Supporters. Filed by Beth Allen of Lane Powell Spears Lubersky in Portland , on behalf of the Oregon Gay and Lesbian Law Association, Equity Foundation, Love Makes a Family, Rural Organizing Project, Cascade Aids Project, PFLAG - Oregon State Council, PFLAG - Portland Chapter. This brief urges the Oregon Supreme Court to use a heightened level of scrutiny where the government provides privileges and immunities to heterosexuals but denies those same privileges and immunities to gays and lesbians. It chronicles a longstanding history of systemic discrimination against gays and lesbians that justifies such heightened scrutiny.
6. Amici Curiae Brief of Oregon Psychologists and Psychiatrists. Filed by John Paul Graff and Katherine H. OíNeil of Graff & OíNeil in Portland as well as Ruth N. Borenstein and Sylvia M. Sokol of Morrison & Foerster, LLP, on behalf of Drs. Richard S. Colman, Rodica N. Meyer and Lorah Sebastian, this brief sets forth that social science research that demonstrates that the sexual orientation of gays and lesbians in an immutable characteristic and that homosexuality is a normal form of biopsychosocial development.
7. Amici Curiae Brief of Oregon and National Womenís Rights Organizations. Filed by Maureen Leonard and Ellen Taussig Conaty in Portland, as well as former Oregon Supreme Court Justice Betty Roberts, on behalf of 15 Oregon and national womenís rights organizations, including Legal Momentum (formerly NOW Legal Defense & Education Fund), National Association of Women Lawyers, Portland Section and the National Council of Jewish Women, NARAL Pro-Choice Oregon, YWCA of Salem, Portland section of American Assocation of University Women, as well as the Oregon Trial Lawyersí Association. The amici urge extending the privilege of marriage to same-sex couples. These organizations advocate at a national and a local level to support the rights of all women and men to live free from government-enforced gender stereotypes. These organizations urge this court to follow the principles of equality set out by the Oregon Supreme Court in its landmark gender discrimination case Hewitt v. SAIF.
8. Amici Curiae Brief of Oregon and National Professional Organizations That Deal with Children, Families and Parenting Issues. Filed by Ed Reeves of Stoel Rives LLP in Portland , on behalf of Juvenile Rights Project, Inc., the National Association of Social Workers and its Oregon Chapter, Open Adoption & Family Services, Inc., the Oregon Psychiatric Association, and the Oregon Psychological Association. This brief presents the social science research showing that gay and lesbian parents are just as fit as heterosexual parents. It further presents evidence that gays and lesbians enter into relationships similar to those of heterosexuals. It argues that allowing same-sex couples to marry will increase the stability of those relationships and that not permitting same-sex couples to marry will deprive their children of the protections of marriage and impose on them a damaging social stigma.
9. Amicus Curiae Brief of the American Psychological Association. Filed by Donna Meyer of Fitzwater & Meyer, LLP in Portland, as well as Paul M. Smith and William M. Hohengarten of Jenner & Block, LLP, and Nathalie F.P. Gilfoyle of the APA, on behalf of the nationís leading association of psychology professionals and behavioral scientists, this brief sets forth the scientific research that has firmly established that homosexuality is not a disorder or disease but rather a normal variant of human sexual orientation. It goes on to discuss evidence that the relationships between same-sex couples is equivalent to those between opposite-sex married couples, and that allowing same-sex couples to marry would give them access to the legal, social and economic support that facilitate and strengthen the relationships and families of opposite-sex couples. Finally, these experts urge the recognition of marriages of same-sex couples as it is in the best interest of the children being raised by same-sex partners.