Idaho prisons to revisit policy on same-sex marriage

BOISE – The Idaho Department of Corrections is revisiting its policy on same-sex marriage after an inmate threatened to take the agency to court.

KTVB-TV reports that a prisoner in Boise was denied permission to marry her female partner, who isn’t in prison. Her attorney, Deborah Ferguson, says IDOC shouldn’t be able to prohibit the marriage.

The agency’s policy says they must hold weddings for inmates to marry someone of the opposite sex. It also requires IDOC to conform to state law, and Idaho has recognized same-sex marriage since 2014.

The agency told KTVB that they will review the marriage policy in the wake of last summer’s U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling state-level bans on same-sex marriage unconstitutional.