[JURIST] A judge for the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan [official website] on Wednesday struck down [opinion] a Michigan law limiting the benefits received by same-sex partners in local government and public schools. Judge David Lawson blocked the law more than a year ago with an injunction. Seven months after hearing oral arguments, he deemed it unconstitutional based on “irrational prejudice,” stating that it was a “substantial departure” from the states tradition of permitting local governments to establish individual policies regarding employee benefits and health insurance. Wednesday’s decision comes less than a week after the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit [official website] upheld same-sex marriage bans [JURIST report] in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. However, Lawson was careful to clarify that the present case “is not about marriage.”

Last week’s ruling in the Sixth Circuit creates a circuit split, as the US Courts of Appeals for the Fourth, Seventh, Ninth and Tenth Circuits [JURIST reports] have ruled same-sex marriage bans unconstitutional. Last month the US Supreme Court [official website] declined to hear [JURIST report] seven pending same-sex marriage cases, allowing those appeals court rulings to stand and effectively legalizing same-sex marriage in several states. The challengers in the Sixth Circuit could now seek a rehearing by the full appeals court or could appeal to the Supreme Court, where four of nine justices would have to agree to hear the appeal.