Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health, 289 Conn. 135

Summary

The Connecticut Supreme Court considered whether the state's statutory prohibition on same-sex marriage violated the Connecticut Constitution. The court held that limiting same-sex couples to civil unions, despite providing equivalent legal rights, imposed a constitutionally cognizable injury and discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation. Applying heightened or intermediate scrutiny, the court concluded that the statutory scheme was unconstitutional and reversed the trial court's judgment.

Holdings

1. The exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage, despite the availability of civil unions with the same legal rights, creates a constitutionally cognizable injury because marriage has a distinct status and significance that civil unions do not embody.
2. Same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples are similarly situated for purposes of an equal-protection challenge to Connecticut's marriage laws.
3. Sexual orientation is a quasi-suspect classification under the equal-protection provisions of the Connecticut Constitution.
4. The statutory exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage fails intermediate scrutiny under the Connecticut Constitution.

Questions Presented

1. Whether reserving civil marriage to opposite-sex couples while making civil unions available to same-sex couples creates a constitutionally cognizable injury.
2. Whether Connecticut's statutory scheme discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation under the Connecticut Constitution.
3. Whether sexual orientation is a quasi-suspect classification under the Connecticut Constitution.
4. Whether the statutory exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage survives intermediate scrutiny.
5. Whether same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples are similarly situated for purposes of the equal-protection challenge.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded