Orr v. Orr
{{Confused|OVO (disambiguation){{!}}OVO}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox SCOTUS case
|Litigants=Orr v. Orr
|ArgueDate=November 27
|ArgueYear=1978
|DecideDate=March 5
|DecideYear=1979
|FullName=William Orr v. Lillian Orr
|USVol=440
|USPage=268
|ParallelCitations=99 S. Ct. 1102; 59 L. Ed. 2d 306; 1979 U.S. LEXIS 65
|Holding=The Alabama statute granting alimony only to women violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
|Majority=Brennan
|JoinMajority=Stewart, White, Marshall, Blackmun, Stevens
|Concurrence=Blackmun
|Concurrence2=Stevens
|Dissent=Powell
|Dissent2=Rehnquist
|JoinDissent2=Burger
|LawsApplied=U.S. Const. amend. XIV
}}
Orr v. Orr, 440 U.S. 268 (1979), was a United States Supreme Court case that held that Alabama statutes that imposed alimony obligations on husbands but not on wives was an unconstitutional equal protection violation.{{Cite book|author1=Jonathan D. Varat |author2=William Cohen |author3=Vikram Amar |title=Constitutional Law Cases and Materials|edition= Concise Thirteenth|publisher=Foundation Press|location=New York|date=2009|page=580}}
Background
The state of Alabama had adopted statutes that imposed alimony obligations on husbands but not on wives for the stated purpose of addressing the economic disparity between men and women by providing support for needy women after divorce.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Margaret Moses Young filed a brief for the American Civil Liberties Union as amicus curiae urging reversal.
Opinion of the Court
Applying intermediate scrutiny, the Court determined that the statute was not substantially related to the stated purpose. The Court observed that a gender neutral statute would still have the effect of providing for needy women. The Court further observed that the only difference created by the Alabama statute was to also provide support for well off women that did not need support, and to exclude needy men from support.Varat, p. 581
References
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External links
- {{caselaw source
| case = Orr v. Orr, {{ussc|440|268|1979|el=no}}
| courtlistener =https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/110029/orr-v-orr/
| googlescholar = https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=12090212917185180151
| justia =https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/440/268/
| loc =http://cdn.loc.gov/service/ll/usrep/usrep440/usrep440268/usrep440268.pdf
| oyez =https://www.oyez.org/cases/1978/77-1119
}}
{{US14thAmendment}}
Category:United States equal protection case law
Category:United States Supreme Court cases
Category:United States Supreme Court cases of the Burger Court
Category:1979 in United States case law