A third judge has ruled in favor of marriage equality in Florida.
A Florida circuit court judge ruled Monday the state’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples is unconstitutional — the third judge in the state to do so in recent weeks, according to the Miami Herald and Orlando Sentinel.
Broward County Circuit Judge Dale Cohen ruled that the state’s prohibition of marriage for same-sex couples and its refusal to recognize the marriages of same-sex couples that were performed out of state violate the equal protection and due process clauses of the 14th Amendment to U.S. Constitution, Nancy Brodzki, legal counsel to the plaintiff in the case, told BuzzFeed.
Heather Brassner, who had entered into a civil union in Vermont in 2002, filed the suit to divorce in Florida. With that, the judge said he would first need to address the state’s constitutional ban on marriage for same-sex couples, which voters approved in 2008, according to Brodzki.
The decision was immediately stayed, so marriages will not yet begin in Florida yet. The state Attorney General is reviewing the ruling.