Sevcik v. Sandoval

Summary

Lambda Legal has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada on behalf of eight same-sex Nevada couples arguing that Nevada’s constitutional ban on marriage equality violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Plainitffs argue that Nevada’s exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage, while relegating them to the second-class status of domestic partnership, violates their right to equal treatment under the U.S. Constitution. This discriminatory system stigmatizes same-sex couples and their families, and treats them as inferior.

History

• April 10, 2012 Lambda Legal, joined by pro bono co-counsel from O’Melveny & Myers LLP and Snell & Wilmer LLP, files the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada
• August 10, 2012 Court defers motion to dismiss and agrees to hear the case. Court also grants a motion by the Coalition for the Protection of Marriage to intervene as a defendant in the lawsuit.
• November 26, 2012 Court rules against the plaintiffs, upholding Nevada's marriage equality ban. Lambda Legal will appeal.