JUNE 25, 2014 – San Francisco – Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom (BALIF) applauds the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals decision issued today in Kitchen v. Herbert, on appeal from the District of Utah. The decision upheld the District Court ruling striking down Utah’s discriminatory ban on marriage for same-sex couples.

BALIF Co-Chair Jamie Dupree said, “Amongst the recent unbroken string of decisions in favor of marriage equality, this decision is particularly significant as the first federal appellate court ruling since last summer’s decision by the Supreme Court in United States v. Windsor striking down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act. It is wonderful that this came out of Utah – a state where achieving marriage equality is unlikely to happen without judicial intervention.”

BALIF filed an amicus brief arguing that following Windsor, the Utah ban is unconstitutional as the principle purpose and effect of the ban were to impose inequality on same-sex couples.