Judge Refuses to Block Hawaii Marriage Equality

Circuit Court Judge Karl Sakamoto today declined to issue a restraining order to keep the state's new law from going into effect.

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

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Trudy Ring

November 14 2013 5:00 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

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A Hawaii judge today refused to issue a restraining order to block the state's new marriage equality law from going into effect.

Circuit Court Judge Karl Sakamoto said the state legislature has the power to define marriage, and the law, signed yesterday by Gov. Neil Abercrombie, will go into effect as planned December 2, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports. State representative Bob McDermott, who filed a suit challenging the law, had sought a temporary restraining order to prevent the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

At the heart of McDermott's argument is a constitutional amendment passed by voters in 1998, giving the legislature the authority to reserve marriage for opposite-sex couples, an amendment that rendered moot a 1990s court case that could have brought marriage equality to the island state then. McDermott contended that the amendment only allowed legislators to restrict marriage, not establish a different, more inclusive definition. But Sakamoto said lawmakers have the power to define marriage generally, independent of the amendment.

"After all the legal complexities of the court's analysis, the court will conclude that same-sex marriage in Hawaii is legal," Sakamoto said, according to the Star-Advertiser.

"I'm very pleased with the court's ruling," state attorney general David Louie told reporters. McDermott did not immediately say if he would appeal.