Nebraska Initiative 416 was a 2000 ballot initiative that amended the

Nebraska Constitution The Nebraska Constitution is the basic governing document of the U.S. state of Nebraska. All acts of the Nebraska Legislature, the governor, and each governmental agency are subordinate to it. The constitution has been amended 228 times since it ...

to make it unconstitutional for the state to recognize or perform

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

, same-sex

civil union A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

s or

domestic partnership A domestic partnership is a legal relationship, usually between couples, who live together and share a common domestic life, but are not married (to each other or to anyone else). People in domestic partnerships receive benefits that guarantee r ...

s. The referendum was approved on November 7, 2000, by 70% of the voters.Statewide General Election 2000 Results, Constitutional Amendments and Initiative Measures
Nebraska Secretary of State, p. 21-22. Accessed 17 December 2006. The initiative has since been struck down in federal court and

is now legally recognised in the state of Nebraska.

Text of amendment

The text of the amendment states:

''Only marriage between a man and a woman shall be valid or recognized in Nebraska. The uniting of two persons of the same sex in a civil union, domestic partnership, or other similar same-sex relationship shall not be valid or recognized in Nebraska.''Nebraska State Constitution
Article I, section 29, Nebraska Legislative Documents Legislature. Accessed 21 July 2014.

Those voting ''yes'' were voting in favour of the amendment and those voting ''no'' were voting against the amendment.

Campaign

The petition drive that put the proposed amendment on the Nebraska ballot was organized by Guyla Mills, director of Nebraska Family Council. Mills said of her organization's motives: "This is not about hate, this is about love. The Defense of Marriage Act movement was just a platform we had to share the love of Jesus Christ."Baker, Tess N. (January 12, 2001). "Family Council celebrates"
''Lincoln Journal Star''.
Retrieved July 7, 2019. A group called the Coalition for Protection of Marriage ran advertisements in support of the marriage ban. The coalition was chaired by former governor

Kay Orr Kay Avonne Orr (née Stark; January 2, 1939) is an American politician who served as the 36th governor of Nebraska from 1987 to 1991. A member of the Republican Party, she was the state's first and to date only female governor. Early life and e ...

and Omaha businessman Bill Ramsey. Dan Parsons of Family First served as coalition spokesman. The

LDS Church The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

and Nebraska Catholic Conference were also coalition members. The proposed amendment was opposed by United Students against 416, a group of

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

students, and by the

Nebraska Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights The Nebraska Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights, later called the Nebraska Coalition for LGBT Civil Rights, was an advocacy group in Nebraska that existed from 1981 to approximately 2002. It was based in Lincoln, Nebraska, Lincoln. The grou ...

Result

Lawsuits

Several gay and lesbian advocacy organizations challenged this measure in ''

Citizens for Equal Protection v. Bruning ''Citizens for Equal Protection v. Bruning'', 455 F.3d 859 (8th Cir. 2006), was a federal lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska and decided on appeal by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circ ...

''. In 2005, Judge

Joseph Bataillon Joseph Francis Bataillon (born October 3, 1949) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska. Education and career Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Bataillon received a Bachelor of Arts deg ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of Nebraska The United States District Court for the District of Nebraska (in case citations, D. Neb.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Nebraska. Court offices are in Omaha and Lincoln. Appeals from the District of Nebraska ...

ruled that the measure violated the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

's guarantees of equal protection and free speech, as well as its prohibition on bills of attainder. In 2006, the

United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (in case citations, 8th Cir.) is a United States federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following United States district courts: * Eastern District of Arkansas * Western Dis ...

overturned Judge Bataillon and ruled that "laws limiting the state-recognized institution of marriage to heterosexual couples ... do not violate the Constitution of the United States." In 2015, in the matter of '' Waters v. Ricketts'', Judge of the District Court again ruled that the measure violated the U.S. Constitution, on equal protection and due process grounds. Though the state appealed and successfully sought a stay of the ruling to the

Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (in case citations, 8th Cir.) is a United States federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following United States district courts: * Eastern District of Arkansas * Western Distr ...

, the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

struck down same-sex marriage bans nationwide on identical grounds in the matter of ''

Obergefell v. Hodges ''Obergefell v. Hodges'', ( ), is a landmark LGBT rights case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protect ...

''. Consequently, the Eighth Circuit Court lifted the stay of Judge 's ruling and Initiative 416 was formally struck down, with Nebraska officials and agencies formally enjoined from enforcing the ban on same-sex marriage in the state.

Status

Following ''Obergefell v. Hodges'' the text of Initiative 416 is

dead letter Dead letter mail or undeliverable mail is mail that cannot be delivered to the addressee or returned to the sender. This is usually due to lack of compliance with postal regulations, an incomplete address and return address, or the inability to ...

and is not enforced. It remains a part of the constitution. The

Nebraska Family Alliance Nebraska Family Alliance (NFA) is a fundamentalist Christian organization based in Lincoln, Nebraska. It is a 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1988. It most prominently lobbies against LGBT rights, such as same-sex marriage and LGBT adoption. T ...

and Nebraska Catholic Conference continue to oppose efforts to remove the text of Initiative 416 from the Constitution following the court rulings. Governor

Pete Ricketts John Peter Ricketts (born August 19, 1964) is an American politician serving as the 40th governor of Nebraska since 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party. Ricketts is the son of Joe Ricketts, founder of TD Ameritrade. He is also, with oth ...

vetoed a bill to print marriages licenses to accommodate same-sex couples in 2019.

References