Partners Hunter Carter and Craig Engle Cited in Obergefell v. Hodges

According to the Court, over one hundred briefs were filed, with only a select group of briefs included in the historic opinion. 

Arent Fox, through Hunter and associate Matthew Trokenheim, filed an amicus brief with the US Supreme Court on behalf of more than 200 active duty and retired police officers, firefighters, and medical techs who are representing thousands of first responders, many of whom are gay or lesbian. A link to the amicus brief can be found here.

Craig filed a separate amicus brief on behalf of client Liberty Education Forum that put forward the unique argument that the First Amendment, not just the Fifth, is violated when a state prohibits same sex couples from marrying. Specifically, the prohibition prevents same sex couples who cannot marry from making two contributions to a political candidate, while married couples, as spouses, are able to do so. A link to the brief can be found here. Associate Thorne Maginnis assisted in writing the brief.

Hunter was also interviewed by Law360 following the decision about his brief and the broader impact of Friday’s ruling going forward in an article titled “Historic Marriage Ruling Leaves Bias Issue For Another Day,” and he also provided insights on CaseText.

To read the full article from Law360, click here.

To read Hunter’s blog post on CaseText, click here.