A federal judge in Kansas ruled the state’s gay marriage ban unconstitutional on Tuesday, just hours before the polls closed on Election Day.
U.S. District Judge Daniel D. Crabtree cited the recent ruling by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over Kansas, decreeing that state bans on same-sex marriage violate the equal protection clause of the Constitution.
“Because Kansas’ constitution and statutes indeed do what Kitchen [v. Herbert] forbids, the Court concludes that Kansas’ same-sex marriage ban violates the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution,” Crabtree wrote in his ruling, going on to halt enforcement of the ban.
The judge was bound by the 10th Circuit precedent. The Supreme Court declined to take the case and let the appeals court ruling stand.
“Kansas’ same-sex marriage ban does not differ in any meaningful respect from the Utah and Oklahoma laws the Tenth Circuit found unconstitutional,” Crabtree wrote.
