Lee et al v. Orr

MOTION

N.D. Ill.December 6, 2013

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION BRENDA LEE and LEE EDWARDS; PATRICIA TUCKER and INGRID SWENSON; ELVIE JORDAN and CHALLIS GIBBS; RONALD DORFMAN and KENNETH ILIO, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. DAVID ORR, in his official capacity as COOK COUNTY CLERK, Defendant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Case No. 13 cv 8719 Hon. Judge Sharon J. Coleman Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez ILLINOIS ATTORNEY GENERAL’S MOTION TO INTERVENE Pursuant to Rules 5.1 and 24 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Lisa Madigan, Attorney General of the State of Illinois (the “Attorney General”), moves to intervene in this case to address the plaintiffs’ challenge to the constitutional validity, as applied to them, of the provisions of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (“the Act”), 750 ILCS § 5/101, et seq., that prohibit marriage between same-sex couples, and, in support of this motion, states: 1. On December 6, 2013, plaintiffs filed this action, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, on behalf of themselves and similarly situated individuals, against defendant Clerk of Cook County, Illinois David Orr (“Orr”). Although the Illinois Governor recently signed into law Public Act 98–597, which legalizes same-sex marriages in Illinois as of June 1, 2014, Plaintiffs’ complaint seeks interlocutory and permanent injunctive relief enjoining Orr from applying against them the currently effective provisions of the Act that prohibit him from granting marriage licenses to same- sex couples. Count I of Plaintiffs’ Complaint alleges that the challenged provisions of the Act violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution by unduly permitting governmental interference with the right to personal liberty and the right to Case: 1:13-cv-08719 Document #: 15 Filed: 12/06/13 Page 1 of 3 PageID #:98 privacy. See U.S. Const., amend. XIV, § 1. Count II alleges that the challenged provisions of the Act violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Id. 2. The Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of Illinois. Ill. Const., Art. V, § 15. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.1(a), on December 6, 2013, the plaintiffs served the Attorney General with notice of their claims challenging the constitutionality of the provisions of the Act preventing Orr from granting them a marriage license. Rule 5.1(c) provides that, within 60 days after receiving such notice (or certification by the Court of a challenge to the constitutionality of a statute, whichever occurs first), the Attorney General “may intervene.” 3. Pursuant to Rules 5.1 and 24 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Attorney General moves to intervene in this action and submits with this motion the proposed pleading for which intervention is sought. WHEREFORE, the Attorney General respectfully requests leave to intervene in this case to address the plaintiffs’ challenge to the constitutional validity of the challenged provisions of the Act, as set forth in her proposed pleading. December 6, 2013 Malini Rao mrao@atg.state.il.us (312) 814-3909 Christopher Kim ckim@atg.state.il.us (312) 793-2403 Assistant Attorneys General 100 W. Randolph St. Chicago, IL 60601 Respectfully submitted, /s/ Richard Huszagh Richard S. Huszagh rhuszagh@atg.state.il.us Assistant Attorney General 100 W. Randolph St., 12th Floor Chicago, IL 60601 (312) 814-2587 2 Case: 1:13-cv-08719 Document #: 15 Filed: 12/06/13 Page 2 of 3 PageID #:99 Certificate of Filing and Service The undersigned, an attorney, hereby certifies that on December 6, 2013, he caused the foregoing Illinois Attorney General’s Motion to Intervene to be filed electronically with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, with copies thereby automatically served electronically on all other counsel of record registered with the Court’s CM/ECF system in this case, and also to be served by postage-prepaid first class mail in envelopes addressed to: Emily Nicklin, P.C. Jordan M. Heinz Jeremy Press Mishan Wroe KIRKLAND & ELLIS LLP 300 N. LaSalle St. Chicago, IL 60654 John A. Knight Harvey Grossman Karen Sheley ROGER BALDWIN FOUNDATION OF ACLU, INC. 180 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 2300 Chicago, IL 60601 Camilla B. Taylor Christopher R. Clark LAMBDA LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND, INC. Midwest Regional Office 105 W. Adams St., Suite 2600 Chicago, IL 60603 Marc O. Beem Zachary J. Freeman M. David Weisman Kay L. Dawson MILLER SHAKMAN & BEEM LLP 180 N. LaSalle St., Suite 3600 Chicago, IL 60601 David Orr, Cook County Clerk c/o Anita Alvarez State’s Attorney Patrick T. Driscoll, Jr. Assistant State’s Attorneys 500 Richard J. Daley Center 50 W. Washington St. Chicago, IL 60602 /s/ Richard Huszagh Richard S. Huszagh 3 Case: 1:13-cv-08719 Document #: 15 Filed: 12/06/13 Page 3 of 3 PageID #:100