Romer v. Evans

Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (1996), was a United States Supreme Court case dealing with civil rights and state laws. The Court gave its ruling on May 20, 1996 against an amendment to the Colorado state constitution that would have prevented any city, town or county in the state from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action to protect homosexual citizens from discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation.

History

On November 3, 1992, Colorado voters, with a vote of 53.4 percent, had enacted "Amendment 2", which read:

Related Topics:
November 3 - 1992

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:Neither the state of Colorado, through any of its branches or departments, nor any of its agencies, political subdivisions, municipalities or school districts, shall enact, adopt or enforce any statute, regulation, ordinance or policy whereby homosexual, lesbian or bisexual orientation, conduct, practices or relationships shall constitute or otherwise be the basis of, or entitle any person or class of persons to have or claim any minority status, quota preferences, protected status or claim of discrimination. This Section of the Constitution shall be in all respects self-executing.

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The amendment effectively prevented any laws banning discrimination against gays, and thereby nullified gay rights laws that already existed in Aspen, Denver, and Boulder.

Related Topics:
Gay rights - Aspen - Denver - Boulder

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An immediate legal challenge was launched by gay rights groups. On January 15, 1993, they successfully got a temporary injunction from District Court Judge Jeffrey Bayless preventing Amendment 2 becoming part of the state constitution, on the grounds of possible unconstitutionality and possible irreparable harm that would be caused by its implementation. The court scheduled a trial to decide the case.

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Even before the trial, the state appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court. On July 19, 1993, that court upheld the original injunction, on the grounds that Amendment 2 violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, insofar as Amendment 2 denied gays equal rights to normal political processes. Chief Justice Luis Rovera wrote:

Related Topics:
Equal protection - Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

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:Were Amendment 2 in force the sole political avenue by which this class could seek such protection would be through the constitutional amendment process.

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The state Supreme Court demanded that the legislation face "strict scrutiny" and prove that it advanced a "compelling state interest", and returned the case to Bayless's court for trial. Bayless found that the amendment failed the test, and ruled it unconstitutional on December 14, 1993.

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Colorado again appealed to its state Supreme Court, again lost (on October 11, 1994), and appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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