Rappaport v. Katz
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
380 F. Supp. 808 (S.D.N.Y. 1974)
Relevant factsFree
New York City Clerk Herman Katz (defendant) instituted a dress-code guideline for City Hall weddings requiring grooms to wear a coat and tie and brides to wear a dress or skirt, explicitly barring pants; two couples (plaintiffs) whose brides wished to wear pants, arguing it would protect against historical sex-role stereotyping, sued in federal court alleging the guideline violated their civil rights to marry and to free expression. Katz moved for summary judgment.
IssueFree
Whether the marriage forms and procedures for weddings performed in a city clerk's office are within the purview of federal courts.