Bench & Bar May/June 2025

COLUMNS

CHASE SYMPOSIUM ON HISTORIC SUPREME COURT MARRIAGE DECISION LINKS PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE FIRST THEY WERE COURTROOM ADVERSARIES; THEN THEY BECAME ISSUE-ORIENTED FRIENDS. counsel before the Supreme Court, Chase Professor Jack Harrison, who was faculty adviser to the symposium, University of Memphis Humphreys School of Law Pro fessor Regina Hillman, and in recorded comments, U.S. District Court Judge Tim othy Black, who ruled for Mr. Obergefell at trial.

F or James Obergefell, the “Obergefell” of the Supreme Court of the United States marriage-equality decision of Obergefell v. Hodges , and Richard Hodges, the “Hodges” of the case, the Chase College of Law’s Northern Kentucky Law Review symposium of “ Obergefell v. Hodges 10 Years Later” more than reunited their names. It reunited them and other principals in the case that originated in Cincinnati, and brought in professors from law schools across the nation, along with individuals with perspectives on the case and its teth ered legal issues, for discussions of what has changed during the past 10 years and what could still be at issue.

Mr. Obergefell became the name plain tiff in United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio after the state of Ohio refused to record his marriage in New York to John Arthur on Mr. Arthur’s death certificate. Mr. Hodges became the titular defendant as the then-director of the Ohio Department of Health. (After leaving the department in 2017, he has been an out spoken supporter of LGBTQ+ rights and a friend of Mr. Obergefell.) In the opening panel of the symposium March 20, Mr. Obergefell and Mr. Hodges were joined by Al Gerhardstein, who was Mr. Obergefell’s Cincinnati lawyer and lead

“While the retelling of the story of the mar riage litigation, particularly through Jim Obergefell and Al Gerhardstein, was cer tainly moving,” Professor Harrison says, “I think perhaps the most important message from our panel was the example of how the law can be used by passionate advocates as a tool for positive social change. It was an important message for our students to hear at this particular moment in history.” The decision not only changed the legal standard for marriage in the country, it also

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