Baker v. Nelson
Richard John Baker v. Gerald R. Nelson, 291 Minn. 310, 191 N.W.2d 185 (1971), was a case in which the Minnesota Supreme Court decided that construing a marriage statute to restrict marriage licenses to persons of the opposite sex "does not offend" the U.S. Constitution. Baker appealed the decision, and on October 10, 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the appeal "for want of a substantial federal question".
| Baker v. Nelson | |
|---|---|
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
| Full case name | Richard John Baker et al., Appellants, v. Gerald Nelson, Clerk of District Court, Fourth Judicial District, in Hennepin County, Respondent |
| Decided | October 15, 1971 |
| Citation(s) | 291 Minn. 310, 191 N.W.2d 185 (1971) |
| Case history | |
| Prior action(s) | Plaintiff's claim dismissed |
| Appealed from | Hennepin County |
| Holding | |
| OPINION: Denial of the statutory entitlement demanded by gay citizens to marry the adult of one's choice "does not offend the . . . United States Constitution". | |
| Court membership | |
| Chief judge | Oscar Knutson |
| Case opinions | |
| Decision by | C. Donald Peterson |
| Majority | unanimous |
| Concurrence | Martin A. Nelson, William P. Murphy, James C. Otis, Walter F. Rogosheske, Fallon Kelly |
| Laws applied | |
| Minn.St. c. 517; U.S. Const. amends I, VIII, IX and XIV | |
Overruled by | |
| Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) | |
Because the case came to the Supreme Court through mandatory appellate review (not certiorari), the dismissal constituted a decision on the merits and established Baker v. Nelson as precedent, although the extent of its precedential effect had been subject to debate. In May 2013, Minnesota legalized same-sex marriage and it took effect on August 1, 2013. On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court explicitly overruled Baker in Obergefell v. Hodges, making same-sex marriage legal nationwide.