MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA —A Mountaineer was on the front lines of history last year when the Supreme Court of the United States made same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states.
Jacklyn “Jaci” Gonzales Martin was co-counsel for Jim Obergefell in the groundbreaking civil rights case Obergefell v. Hodges. She earned her undergraduate and law degrees from West Virginia University.
Martin is returning to campus to discuss her part in the Supreme Court decision on Thursday, March 31, at 6:00 p.m. in the Event Hall at the WVU College of Law.
Admission is free and the public is invited to attend.
Martin played a significant role in preparing Obergefell v. Hodges for the Supreme Court. She helped develop the due process and equal protection theories behind the successful Constitutional argument to make same-sex marriage legal. She also wrote the complaint, briefs and Supreme Court Petition vital to the case.
When Obergefell v. Hodges was argued before the Justices of the Supreme Court, Martin was sitting in the second row. At the time, she was an associate with the civil rights law firm of Gerhardstein and Branch in Cincinnati, Ohio.
A native of New Martinsville, West Virginia, Martin is now an Assistant City Solicitor for the City of Cincinnati. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Women’s Studies and Political Science (Phi Beta Kappa) in 2006 and her J.D. in 2010 from WVU. While a law student, Martin was as a member of the West Virginia Law Review, president of the West Virginia Fund for Law in the Public Interest, and president of the Women's Law Caucus.
“A Mountaineer’s Role in Marriage Equality” is hosted by the WVU Law student organizations OUTlaw and Women’s Leadership Council.
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