Romer v. Evans

Romer v. Evans Romer v. Evans was a landmark Supreme Court of the United States decision in 1996 that invalidated Colorado's Amendment 2, which barred legal protections based on sexual orientation. The case arose from a challenge by plaintiffs including civil-rights organizations and individual citizens represented by attorneys and advocacy groups. The decision has been cited across subsequent cases involving civil rights, LGBT rights, and constitutional protections under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Background

Colorado's Amendment 2 was adopted by popular referendum in 1992 after political campaigns involving state constitutional procedures, municipal ordinances, and ballot initiatives. The amendment followed local developments in Denver, Colorado and other municipalities where ordinances had been passed to prohibit discrimination against homosexuals in employment, housing, and public accommodations. Opponents formed coalitions including legal organizations and advocacy groups, leading to litigation filed in state courts under Colorado constitutional law and federal courts invoking the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The factual matrix involved petitions, electoral processes, ballot measures, and state constitutional amendment rules.

Case Details

Litigation began in federal district court where plaintiffs sought injunctive relief against enforcement of Amendment 2; the case progressed through the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit before certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States. Counsel for petitioners included attorneys from prominent civil-rights organizations and civil liberties groups; respondents included state officials charged with enforcing state constitutional provisions. The record contained testimony, legislative history from the Colorado General Assembly, municipal council proceedings from Denver City Council, and evidentiary submissions about the amendment's effects on employment discrimination and local anti-discrimination ordinances. Key procedural issues involved standing, justiciability, and the proper standard of review under precedents such as United States v. Carolene Products Co. and San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez.

Supreme Court Decision

The Court issued an opinion authored by Justice Anthony Kennedy holding that Amendment 2 violated the Equal Protection component of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The ruling produced a majority opinion and concurrences and dissents that engaged notable jurists from the Court, with references to prior decisions including Bowers v. Hardwick and later implications for cases like Lawrence v. Texas. The judgment invalidated the amendment statewide, and remedial implications affected municipal ordinances in Denver, Colorado and other jurisdictions. The decision was announced during the Rehnquist Court era and played a role in the evolving jurisprudence on LGBT rights and constitutional protections.

Legal Reasoning and Tests Applied

The majority applied equal protection analysis but declined to apply strict scrutiny; instead the opinion evaluated Amendment 2 under a form of rational-basis review with malleable standards drawn from precedents such as Rostker v. Goldberg and City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center. Justice Anthony Kennedy concluded that Amendment 2's text and effect imposed a broad disability on a single named group, targeting homosexuals for disfavored treatment without adequate justification. The opinion relied on concepts from cases addressing suspect classifications and animus, referencing doctrinal lines from Brown v. Board of Education, Korematsu v. United States as historical markers for equal protection analysis, and litigation principles articulated in United States v. Carolene Products Co. The Court found that Amendment 2 lacked a legitimate governmental purpose and was motivated by a desire to harm a politically unpopular group, invoking standards used to assess laws under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Impact and Aftermath

The decision had immediate effects on state constitutional law in Colorado and influenced litigation strategies of national groups including civil-rights organizations and public-interest law firms. Romer v. Evans has been cited in subsequent landmark cases such as Lawrence v. Texas and discussions leading up to Obergefell v. Hodges, shaping the trajectory of LGBT rights litigation and public policy debates in state legislatures and municipal councils. The ruling also affected administrative enforcement in agencies tasked with implementing anti-discrimination statutes and informed advocacy campaigns by organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal. Scholars in legal academia and commentators in national media traced the decision's influence on constitutional doctrine related to equal protection, the classification of suspect classes, and the role of popular referenda in defining civil rights.

Category:United States Supreme Court cases Category:1996 in United States case law Category:LGBT rights in the United States