N
OS
.
12-144,
12-307 I
N
T
HE
Supreme Court of the United States
D
ENNIS
H
OLLINGSWORTH
,
ET AL
.,
Petitioners
,
v.
K
RISTIN
M.
P
ERRY
,
ET AL
.,
Respondents
. U
NITED
S
TATES
,
Petitioner
,
v.
E
DITH
S
CHLAIN
W
INDSOR
,
IN
H
ER
C
APACITY AS
E
XECUTOR OF THE
E
STATE OF
T
HEA
C
LARA
S
PYER
,
and
B
IPARTISAN
L
EGAL
A
DVISORY
G
ROUP OF THE
U
NITED
S
TATES
H
OUSE OF
R
EPRESENTATIVES
,
Respondents
.
On Writs of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth and Second Circuits
AMICI CURIAE BRIEF OF SOCIAL SCIENCE PROFESSORS IN SUPPORT OF HOLLINGSWORTH AND BIPARTISAN LEGAL ADVISORY GROUP ADDRESSING THE MERITS AND SUPPORTING REVERSAL
Abram J. Pafford
Counsel of Record
P
AFFORD
L
AWRENCE
&
C
HILDRESS
PLLC 1776 I Street N.W., Suite 900 Washington, DC 20006 (202) 756-4886 apafford@pafflaw.com
Counsel for Amici Curiae
i
QUESTIONS PRESENTED
Hollingsworth et al. v. Perry et al.
1. Whether the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the State of California from defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman.
United States v. Windsor et al.
1. Whether Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, 1 U.S.C. § 7, violates the equal protection component of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUESTIONS PRESENTED ...................................... i TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................ ii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ....................................... iv INTEREST OF
AMICI CURIAE
............................... 1 SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT ........................... 3 ARGUMENT ............................................................... 5 I.
Compelling Evidence Shows that Children Benefit from the Unique Parenting Contributions of Both Men and Women. ............ 5 II.
The Claim of “No Difference” In Outcomes of Children Raised By Gay and Lesbian Parents and Intact Biological Parents Is Empirically Undermined by Significant Methodological Limitations. .......................................................... 13 A.
The APA studies are based on small sample sizes. .......................................... 15 B.
The APA’s studies are largely based on homogeneous samples. ..................... 17 C.
Most of the samples in the APA-cited studies relied on non-random, convenience sampling. .......................... 19