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The ruling comes
four years after three same-sex couples filed a lawsuit against
Nebraska, arguing that a 1995 state policy prohibiting gay
couples from being foster care parents and adopting wards of the
state is unconstitutional.
A state district court in 2015 ruled for the couples and ordered
the state policy to be rescinded.
The state appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court on the grounds
that the couples did not have standing because they did not
apply for and were not rejected for a foster care license or
having a state ward placed in their homes.
The state also argued that the issue was resolved since it did
not enforce the policy. The supreme court, however, noted that
the policy was not removed from the Nebraska Department of
Health and Human Services website until 2015, leading to
confusion.
The policy indicated "that 'heterosexuals only' need apply to be
foster parents," supreme court justices wrote in the decision.
"It is legally indistinguishable from a sign reading 'whites
only' on the hiring-office door," the justices wrote, referring
to hiring practices discriminating against minorities that have
long been ruled unconstitutional in the United States.
The supreme court ruled that the state's appeal has no merit and
ordered the state to pay the couples' court costs and attorney
fees.
The office of state Attorney General Doug Peterson said in a
statement that the appeal brought up "legitimate jurisdictional
issues that needed to be considered by the court. The court has
ruled," the Omaha World Herald reported.
(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Richard
Pullin)
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