No. 14-571

In the Supreme ourt of the United States

 A 

PRIL

D

E

B

OER

,

 ET AL

.,

 

P

ETITIONERS

 v. R

ICHARD

S

NYDER

,

 

G

OVERNOR

,

 

S

TATE OF

M

ICHIGAN

,

 IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY 

,

 ET AL

.

O

N

W

RIT OF

C

ERTIORARI

 

TO THE

U

NITED

S

TATES

C

OURT OF

 A 

PPEALS FOR THE

S

IXTH

C

IRCUIT

 

BRIEF FOR THE RESPONDENTS

Bill Schuette Michigan Attorney General  Aaron D. Lindstrom Solicitor General B. Eric Restuccia Deputy Solicitor General  Ann Sherman  Assistant Solicitor General John J. Bursch Special Assistant Attorney General

Counsel of Record

P.O. Box 30212 Lansing, MI 48909 MIAG@michigan.gov (517) 373-1110  Attorneys for Respondents

 

i

QUESTION PRESENTED

Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex?

 

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Question Presented ...................................................... i

 

Table of Contents ........................................................ ii

 

Table of Authorities .................................................... v

 

Introduction ................................................................ 1

 

Statement of the Case ................................................ 3

 

 A.

 

Competing views of marriage ........................ 3

 

B.

 

The history of marriage in Michigan ............ 4

 

C.

 

The petitioners ............................................... 5

 

D.

 

District-court proceedings ............................. 5

 

E.

 

The Sixth Circuit’s decision ........................... 6

 

Summary of Argument ............................................. 10

 

 Argument .................................................................. 13

 

I.

 

In the absence of a recognized constitutional right, the Constitution reserves to the states the role of defining marriage. ............................ 13

 

II.

 

Marriage has traditionally been defined as only between opposite-sex couples because the state’s interest in marriage has always been to encourage individuals with the inherent capacity to bear children to enter a union that supports raising children. ................ 17

 

III.

 

There is no substantive-due-process right to a particular marriage definition. ....................... 21

 

IV.

 

Michigan’s opposite-sex definition of marriage does not violate equal protection. ...... 28