Judges Extend High Court Same-Sex Ruling

Just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down part of a federal law that defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman, judges in lower courts are citing and even building on the ruling in battles over state laws concerning same-sex marriage and other issues affecting gays and lesbians.

A federal judge in Cincinnati cited the June ruling in U.S. v. Windsor in finding Ohio's 2004 law banning the recognition of same-sex marriages from other states "likely" to be unconstitutional, at least in regard to the couple that brought the suit.

So far, all of the rulings have come during preliminary stages of cases, so they might not lead to state laws being upended. But they show how the Supreme Court's decision could quickly reshape state law on marriage even though it only addressed a single part of a federal statute.Another federal judge, in Detroit, relied partly on the Windsor case to temporarily strike down a Michigan law denying domestic benefits for gay and other unmarried couples. Days later, a different federal judge in Detroit cited the Windsor case in allowing a lawsuit challenging Michigan's ban on same-sex marriage to move forward, over the state's objections.

"It's a pattern that's emerging—and it's striking," said David Cruz, a law professor at the University of Southern California and an expert on civil-rights law. Rather than finding ways around Windsor, he said, "judges are embracing its principles."

-Wall Street Journal