The First Circuit Court of Appeals on
Thursday threw out a district court judge's ruling upholding Puerto
Rico's ban on gay marriage.
“The district court's ruling errs in
so many respects that it is hard to know where to begin,” the
court wrote.
Last month, U.S. District Court Judge
Juan Perez-Gimenez ruled that the Supreme Court's June finding in
Obergefell v. Hodges that gay couples have a constitutional
right to marry does not apply to Puerto Rico because it is an
unincorporated territory.
(Related: Federal
judge says gay marriage ruling does not apply to Puerto Rico.)
Perez-Gimenez first upheld Puerto
Rico's ban in 2014. In sending the case back to the lower court, the
First Circuit wrote: “Upon consideration of the parties' Joint
Response Pursuant to Court Order filed June 26, 2015, we vacate the
district court's Judgment in this case and remand the matter for
further consideration in light of Obergefell. … We agree
with the parities' joint position that the ban is unconstitutional.
Mandate to issue forthwith.”
The appeals court took issue with
Perez-Gimenez's ruling, saying that he had “directly contradicted
our mandate,” and kicked him off the case, ordering that the case
be assigned randomly to a different judge.