By Lori Pilger
Lincoln Journal Star
LINCOLN, Neb. — A Lincoln inmate and his significant other, a transgender woman, are appealing the recent dismissal of their lawsuit against the Nebraska prison system, which they say won’t let them marry.
“I requested and was denied the right to marry the person … of my choosing,” Harold Wilson wrote in the suit filed in April. In it, Wilson and Gracy Sedlak, formerly John Jirovsky, challenged the constitutionality of Nebraska Initiative Measure 416, an amendment voters passed in 2000 defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
Two weeks ago, Lancaster County District Judge Steven Burns dismissed the case because they had failed to pay the $82 filing fee.
Wilson and Sedlak had asked to file it without paying, but Burns denied the request in April, saying the proposed complaint appeared on its face to be frivolous. He gave them 30 days to pay the filing fee.
Late last month, Wilson and Sedlak filed another motion, asking the judge for an order that they be allowed to be married and that Sedlak be considered for visitation. Because they never paid the filing fee, Burns dismissed the case.
Full story: Judge dismisses Lincoln inmate, transgender woman’s lawsuit