In Obergefell v. Hodges, the U.S. Supreme Court held that state bans on same-sex marriage violate both the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.1 Following Obergefell, the Louisiana Supreme Court issued a per curiam opinion confirming that Louisiana statutes in violation of Obergefell are unconstitutional.2 Accordingly, La. C.C. art. 86, which defines marriage as a legal relationship between a man and a woman, and La. C.C. art. 3520(B), which prohibits recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states, are unconstitutional. Nevertheless, the Louisiana Law Institute has noted that there appears little motivation on the part of the Louisiana Legislature to amend the language of Louisiana statutes to conform to federal law in this area.3
- 1576 U.S. 644 (2015).
- 2Constanza v, Caldwell, 2014-CA-2090 (La. 7/7/15), 167 So. 3d 619.
- 3See, e.g., Marriage-Persons Comm., La. State L. Inst., Annual Report to the Legislature in Response to SR 143 of the 2016 Regular Session: Relative to State Law post-Obergefell v. Hodges.