Kendall Coffey Discusses Consolidation of Marriage Equality Suits in Florida

Motions filed to consolidate gay marriage suits

Motions filed to consolidate gay marriage suits

By Dan Sweeney, Sun Sentinel2:27 p.m. EDT, July 31, 2014

Two same-sex marriage lawsuits currently winding their way through the Third District Court of Appeals may soon be combined into one

Circuit court judges in both Miami-Dade and Monroe counties have struck down Florida's same-sex marriage ban, but both decisions were stayed pending appeals.

"Consoldiating the two cases makes all the sense in the world, not only because of the importance but because of the commonality," said Kendall Coffey, an adjunct professor at the University of Miami's School of Law.

Kendall Coffey is an attorney in Miami and former U.S. Attorney for the Southern Region

• Lawyers for both sets of plaintiffs have filed motions seeking the consolidation and the defendant county clerks have not objected.

Both sets of plaintiffs are also asking the court of appeals to let the case move straight to the Florida Supreme Court because the issues addressed "are of great public importance.''

Such action is "occurs in truly extraordinary cases," Coffey said. He also said the appellate court could also accelerate the speed at which it heard the case.

dsweeney@sun-sentinel.com, 954-356-4605 or Twitter @Daniel_Sweeney

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Kendall Coffey on Marriage Equality, Youth Sports and Zimmerman Drama

Kendall Coffey on The Steve Malzberg Show

The Steve Malzberg Show's "Spinning the Law" segment returned on Friday, Spetember 27.  The headlining story for the show was a recent case in New Jersey about same sex marriage.  The court ruled that due to the recent Supreme Court ruling on DOMA, banning gay marriage would be considered unconstitutional under the New Jersey state constitution.  Kendall Coffey told Malzberg that the momentum for gay marriage was leaning in the direction of allowing it and will not be too long before most states will approve it.  See the video below:

The show discussed several other cases as well. In New York, two boys are playing on the girls volley ball team because the boys team was disbanded.  The school district is trying to fight the decision for them to be allowed to play.  Mr. Coffey said that legally the boys have a solid case and should be allowed.

In Florida, a woman who was sentenced to twenty years in prison for shooting a warning shot at her husband will get a new trial.  Kendall Coffey said that the first trial was "appalling" and that he was happy to see she would get another chance to use the self defense argument.  He said the guilty sentence was due largely to erroneous instructions given to the jury.

In Montana, prosecutors are trying to appeal sentencing for a man sentenced to thirty days in prison for raping one of his former students.  The teen who was raped committed suicide.  Coffey told the show that because the man was convicted of rape, the sentencing can be appealed and revisited without the case being an instance of double jeopardy.  He agreed the prosecution should seek harsher sentencing in this case.

The estranged wife of George Zimmerman appeared on the Today Show last week, telling Matt Lauer her side of the story about the famous trial her and her husband her involved in and how their marriage deteriorated afterwards.  Steve asks if she is out of line, and Coffey answered that we shouldn't judge people who have been through so much trauma and media scrutiny.