Bostic v. Schaefer

Bostic v. Schaefer
No. 14-1167
Court	United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Full case name	Timothy B. Bostic, et al., Plaintiffs - Appellees, Christy Berghoff, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated; et al., Intervenors v. George E. Schaefer, III, in his official capacity as the Clerk of Court for Norfolk Circuit Court, and Janet M. Rainey, in her official capacity as State Registrar of Vital Records, Defendant - Appellant; et al., Defendants, Michele McQuigg, Intervenor - Defendant.
Decided	July 28, 2014
Citation	760 F.3d 352 (4th Cir. 2014)
Case history
Prior actions	Judgment for plaintiffs sub. nom. Bostic v. Rainey, 970 F. Supp. 2d 456 (E.D. Va. 2014)
Subsequent actions	Motion to stay mandate denied, No. 14-1167 (4th Cir. Aug. 13, 2014); Stay granted sub nom. McQuigg v. Bostic, No. 14A196, 2014 WL 4096232 (Aug. 20, 2014); Petition for certiorari denied, No. 14-153, 2014 WL 3924685 (Oct. 6, 2014).
Holding
Virginia's same-sex marriage bans impermissibly infringe on its citizens' fundamental right to marry. Judgment for the plaintiffs affirmed 2–1, with Floyd, C.J. writing for the majority; Gregory, C.J. concurring. Niemeyer, C.J. dissents.
Court membership
Judges sitting	Paul Niemeyer, Roger Gregory, and Henry F. Floyd, U.S. circuit judges

Bostic v. Schaefer (formerly Bostic v. McDonnell and Bostic v. Rainey) is a lawsuit filed in federal court in July 2013 that challenged Virginia's refusal to sanction same-sex marriages. The plaintiffs won in U.S. district court in February 2014, and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling in July 2014. On August 20, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed enforcement of the Fourth Circuit's ruling pending the outcome of further litigation. State officials refused to defend the state's constitutional and statutory bans on same-sex marriage.

On October 6, 2014, the Supreme Court denied a writ of certiorari to the case, letting the circuit court decision stand.^[1]