Hamby v. Parnell

Case #: 14-35856 (9th Circuit); 3:2014cv00089 (Federal District Court)
Date Filed: 14 April 2014
Date of Appeal: 13 October 2014

Description:

• Suit by four same-sex couples married in other states to have their marriages legally recognized in Alaska, and one unmarried couple to obtain the right to marry.
• The plaintiffs are Matthew Hamby and Christopher Shelden; Christina LaBorde and Susan Tow; Sean Egan and David Robinson; Tracey Wiese and Katrina Cortez; and Courtney Lamb and Stephanie Pearson. Lamb and Pearson are unmarried.
• Oral argument is set for 10 October 2014.
• 29 August 2014, the plaintiffs filed a motion for Summary Judgement.
• 6 October 2014, the plaintiffs filed a corrected reply in support of Summary Judgement.
• 8 October 2014, oral argument set for 10 October 2014, parties will each have 30 minutes and should be prepared to discuss the 9th Circuit's recent decision in Latta. 
• 12 October 2014, U.S. District Judge Timothy M. Burgess ruled that the Alaska ban on marriage equality is unconstitutional, violation both the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
• 12 October 2014, Gov. Sean Parnell said in a statement that he would appeal Burgess's decision.
• 13 October 2014, the defendants filed a Notice of Appeal with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and filed an emergency motion for a stay pending appeal on the October 12th ruling. 
• 14 October 2014, a briefing schedule was ordered; the appeal has been docketed at the 9th Circuit with the state's opening brief due January 21.
• 14 October 2014, Judge Burgess rendered his final judgement and denied the stay: "TMB TEXT ORDER denying the Emergency Motion to Stay Pending Appeal filed at docket 40 . (PRR, COURT STAFF) (Entered: 10/14/2014)"
• 14 October 2014, the state filed a corrected emergency motion for stay pending appeal with the 9th Circuit. 
• 15 October 2014, the plaintiffs filed their opposition to a stay.
• 15 October 2014, a three judge motions panel of the 9th Circuit granted a temporary stay until 17 October 2014 at noon to allow the state "an opportunity to seek a stay from the United States Supreme Court. Barring any such stay from the Supreme Court, this court’s temporary stay dissolves at 12:00 p.m. PDT on October 17, 2014." 
• 16 October 2014, the state applied to SCOTUS for an emergency stay pending appeal or a cert petition.
• 17 October 2014, SCOTUS denied Alaska's request for a stay.
• 22 October 2014, the state of Alaska filed its petition for initial en banc hearing in the appeal. 
• 29 October 2014, the plaintiffs' attorneys filed a motion asking for $258K in attorneys' fees and expenses through 24 October 2014. Filed with the motion were a Memo in Support of Motion, Affidavit of Laurence Blakely, Declaration of Caitlin Shortell, and Declaration of Heather L. Gardner.
• 18 November 2014, Cost to state of defending same-sex marriage ban tops $100,000 - By Suzanne Caldwell, Alaska Dispatch News
• 20 November 2014, in a docket-text-only order, the 9th Circuit has denied the state's request for an initial en banc hearing: "No active judge has requested a vote to hear this case initially en banc within the time allowed by General Order 5.2a. The request is therefore denied. [9317194] (HH) [Entered: 11/18/2014 12:16 PM]"
• 25 November 2014, the defendants filed their opposition to motion for attorneys' fees and costs.
• 25 November 2014, Declaration of Asst. AG William Milks filed in support of motion.
• 2 December 2014, the plaintiffs filed their Reply in support of their motion for attorney's fees, and a brief in support of their Reply.
• 2 February 2015, the State filed a motion to put appeal on hold until U.S. Supreme Court decides marriage cases.
• 23 February 2015, the State filed a Reply in support of putting appeal on hold until the U.S. Supreme Court decides the marriage cases.
• 15 April 2015, Order filed on Attorney's Fees - granted in part, specifically granted but with rate and number of hours reduced. "For the foregoing reasons, the Court GRANTS in part Plaintiffs’ motion at Docket 46 in the amount of $127,262.50 in attorneys’ fees to reflect the reductions as explained in this order and $458.40 in costs and other expenses for a total of $127,720.90."
• 13 May 2015, two of the plaintiffs' attorneys -- Caitlin Shortell and Heather Gardner -- filed a motion for reconsideration of the order for attorneys' fees.
• 3 June 2015, the defendants filed their Opposition to Motion for Reconsideration of Order on Attorney's Fees.