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Russell E. Simmons
Russell E. Simmons, Jr. was a circuit court judge for the Ninth Circuit Court in Tennessee. He served in this position from 1990 to 2014.[1] He was re-elected without opposition in 2006 and his term expired in 2014.[2][3]
Education
Simmons received his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his J.D. from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.[4]
Career
Simmons worked as an attorney in private practice prior to joining the Ninth Circuit Court in 1990.[1]
Noteworthy cases
Tennessee's same-sex marriage ban upheld (2014)
- See also: Ninth Circuit Court, Tennessee
Judge Simmons, on August 5, 2014, upheld Tennessee's same-sex marriage ban, noting that "neither the Federal Government nor another state should be allowed to dictate to Tennessee what has traditionally been a state’s responsibility."[5]
A number of challenges to state bans on same-sex marriage surfaced after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act in their 2013 ruling in United States v. Windsor. Since that ruling, most judges hearing these types of cases across the nation decided that same-sex marriage bans were unconstitutional.
In the underlying case before Judge Simmons, two men who had been married in Iowa were seeking to get a divorce in Tennessee, their home state. Simmons said he did not think that the Windsor decision completely ruled-out state bans on same-sex marriage. He wrote:
| “ | The Supreme Court does not go the final step and find that a state that defines marriage as a union of one man and one woman is unconstitutional. Further, the Supreme Court does not find that one state’s refusal to accept another state’s valid same-sex marriage to be in violation of the U.S. Constitution.[5][6][7] | ” |
See also
External links
- Tennessee State Courts, "Trial Court Judges," accessed June 6, 2014
- Tennessee State Courts, "Tennessee Judicial District Map," accessed June 6, 2014
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Tennessee State Courts, "Judge Russell E. Simmons," accessed June 6, 2014
- ↑ Knox News, "Russell Simmons retiring as 9th District Circuit Court judge," November 25, 2013
- ↑ Tennessee Secretary of State, "August 3, 2006 General Election," accessed June 6, 2014 (Scroll to p.16)
- ↑ Martindale.com, "Judge Profile: Russell Edwards Simmons, Jr.," accessed June 6, 2014
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 SCOTUS blog, "String of same-sex marriage rulings broken," August 11, 2014
- ↑ Circuit Court for Roane County, Tennessee, "Frederick Michael Borman vs. Larry Kevin Pyles-Borman," August 5, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
