A Victory for Due Process and Equal Protection

October 2014 | Updated October 2021

In 2013, Shawn Aiken and colleagues around Arizona launched a challenge to Arizona's ban on same-sex marriage, achieving a successful outcome in federal court, eight months ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court, and (left) earning the Corporate Equality Award in 2015 from the Human Rights Campaign.

In December 2013, Shawn Aiken agreed to represent Tempe residents Joe Connolly and Terry Pochert in a legal challenge to Arizona’s prohibition on same-sex marriage. See link here for complete docket (Connolly v. Brewer ) and here (University of Michigan Law School Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse database).

Below: Key Filings | In the News

On January 6, 2014, Shawn filed a 24-page complaint for permanent injunction and declaratory judgment in federal court in Phoenix, asking the court to strike Arizona’s ban on same-sex marriage. Shawn was assisted in drafting the complaint by his daughter, Ellen, an attorney, and his son Eric, then a law student. Shortly thereafter, five experienced lawyers volunteered to join as co-counsel on the case — Ryan Stevens (Flagstaff), Mark Dillon , Mikkel Jordahl (Flagstaff), and Herb Ely — who worked alongside Will Knight, Heather Macre, and Stephanie McCoy Loquvam at Shawn's firm.

In the months that followed, six other couples from around the state joined as plaintiffs in the case. In March, another lawsuit joined the challenge to Arizona's same-sex marriage ban.

In October 2014, U.S. District Judge John Sedwick ruled for the plaintiffs in both lawsuits, overturning Arizona’s ban. Arizona’s Attorney General at the time, Tom Horne, did not appeal the ruling and instructed the state’s county clerks to issue licenses to same-sex couples.

Shawn’s successful challenge preceded by eight months the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that guarantees to same-sex couples the right to marry.

In 2015, Shawn's firm received the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Award for his work on the case.