Domestic relations—Marriage—License application—R.C. 3101.05(A) does not require Social Security numbers from marriage license applicants who do not have a Social Security number.
.]
Domestic relations—Marriage—License application—R.C. 3101.05(A) does not
require Social Security numbers from marriage license applicants who do
not have a Social Security number.
(No. 2001-1542—Submitted March 27, 2002—Decided May 15, 2002.)
ON ORDER from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio,
Western Division, Certifying Questions of State Law, No. 3:01 CV 7059.
__________________
{¶1} The United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio,
Western Division, has certified the following questions to us:
{¶2} l. Does Ohio Revised Code § 3101.05(A), as a matter of statutory
interpretation, require Social Security numbers from marriage license applicants
who do not have a Social Security Number?
{¶3} 2. If question of law number one is answered affirmatively, is the State
of Ohio’s requirement, under Ohio Revised Code § 3101.05(A), that both
applicants for marriage licenses provide Social Security numbers as one of the
grounds of eligibility to marry, unconstitutional as written or applied under the Due
Process Clause of the Ohio Constitution, Article I, § 16?
{¶4} 3. If question of law number one is answered affirmatively and
question of law number two negatively, is the State of Ohio’s requirement, under
Ohio Revised Code § 3101.05(A), that both applicants for marriage licenses
provide Social Security numbers as one of the grounds of eligibility to marry,
unconstitutional as written or applied under the Equal Protection Clause of the Ohio
Constitution, Article I, § 2?”
{¶5} The court answers no to certified question No. 1.
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO
{¶6} The court declines to answer certified questions Nos. 2 and 3 in view
of its answer to certified question No. 1.
MOYER, C.J., DOUGLAS, RESNICK, F.E. SWEENEY, PFEIFER, COOK and
LUNDBERG STRATTON, JJ., concur.
__________________
Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc., Mark R. Heller, W. David
Koeninger and Jeanne Deimling Johns, for petitioners.
Isaac, Brant, Ledman & Teetor, L.L.P., Mark Landes and John E. Vincent,
for respondent Judge Paul Kutscher, Jr.
Julia R. Bates, Lucas County Prosecuting Attorney, and John A. Borell,
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for respondent Judge Jack R. Puffenberger.
E. Dennis Muchnicki, for amici curiae ten Franklin County residents who
are fearful of disclosing their names.
Richard R. Renner, for amicus curiae Hispanic Ministries of Tuscarawas
County, Inc.
__________________
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