UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT 

_________________________________ 

KAIL MARIE; MICHELLE L. BROWN; 

KERRY WILKS, Ph. D.; DONNA 

DITRANI, 

 Plaintiffs - Appellees, 

v. 

ROBERT MOSER, M.D., in his official 

capacity as Secretary of the Kansas 

Department of Health and Environment; 

DOUGLAS A. HAMILTON, in his official 

capacity as Clerk of the District Court for 

the 7th Judicial District (Douglas County); 

BERNIE LUMBRERAS, in her official 

capacity as Clerk of the District Court for 

the 18th Judicial District (Sedgwick 

County), 

 Defendants. 

------------------------------ 

PHILIP W. UNRUH; SANDRA L. 

UNRUH, 

 Movants - Appellants. 

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

KAIL MARIE; MICHELLE L. BROWN; 

KERRY WILKS, Ph. D.; DONNA 

DITRANI, 

 Plaintiffs - Appellees, 

No. 14-3250 

(D.C. No. 2:14-CV-02518-DDC-TJJ) 

(D. Kan.) 

FILED 

United States Court of Appeals

Tenth Circuit 

September 28, 2016

Elisabeth A. Shumaker 

Clerk of Court

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2 

v. 

ROBERT MOSER, M.D., in his official 

capacity as Secretary of the Kansas 

Department of Health and Environment; 

DOUGLAS A. HAMILTON, in his official 

capacity as Clerk of the District Court for 

the 7th Judicial District (Douglas County); 

BERNIE LUMBRERAS, in her official 

capacity as Clerk of the District Court for 

the 18th Judicial District (Sedgwick 

County), 

 Defendants. 

------------------------------ 

WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH, INC., 

 Intervenor - Appellant. 

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

KAIL MARIE; MICHELLE L. BROWN; 

KERRY WILKS, Ph. D.; DONNA 

DITRANI; JAMES E. PETERS; GARY A. 

MOHRMAN; CARRIE L. FOWLER; 

SARAH C. BRAUN; DARCI 

BOHNENBLUST; JOLEEN M. 

HICKMAN, 

 Plaintiffs - Appellees, 

v. 

ROBERT MOSER, M.D., in his official 

capacity as Secretary of the Kansas 

Department of Health and Environment; 

DOUGLAS A. HAMILTON, in his official 

capacity as Clerk of the District Court for 

the 7th Judicial District (Douglas County); 

BERNIE LUMBRERAS, in her official 

capacity as Clerk of the District Court for 

No. 14-3251 

(D.C. No. 2:14-CV-02518-DDC-TJJ) 

(D. Kan.) 

No. 14-3276 

(D.C. No. 2:14-CV-02518-DDC-TJJ) 

(D. Kan.) 

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the 18th Judicial District (Sedgwick 

County); NICK JORDAN, in his official 

capacity as Secretary, Kansas Department 

of Revenue; LISA KASPER, in her official 

capacity as Director, Kansas Department of 

Revenue, Division of Vehicles; MIKE 

MICHAEL, in his official capacity as 

Director, Kansas State Employee Health 

Plan, 

 Defendants. 

------------------------------ 

WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH, INC., 

 Intervenor - Appellant. 

_________________________________ 

ORDER AND JUDGMENT*

_________________________________ 

Before HARTZ, PHILLIPS, and McHUGH, Circuit Judges. 

_________________________________ 

Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) appeals the district court’s order denying its 

motion to intervene as a defendant in Marie v. Moser, No. 2:14-cv-02518-DDC-TJJ 

(D. Kan.), a declaratory judgment action filed in the District of Kansas challenging 

Kansas’s ban on same-sex marriage (No. 14-3251). WBC also appeals the district 

court’s order denying its renewed motion to intervene (No. 14-3276). And Phillip W. 

 *

 After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined 

unanimously to honor the parties’ request for a decision on the briefs without oral 

argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(f); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore 

submitted without oral argument. This order and judgment is not binding precedent, 

except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It 

may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 

and 10th Cir. R. 32.1. 

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Unruh and Sandra L. Unruh appeal the district court’s denial of their motion to 

intervene in the same action (No. 14-3250). 

The district court in Marie has now entered final judgment, granting a 

permanent injunction in favor of plaintiffs in light of Obergefell v. Hodges, 

___ U.S. ___, 135 S. Ct. 2584 (2015) (holding that state bans on same-sex marriage 

are unconstitutional). Marie, No. 2:14-cv-02518-DDC-TJJ, Amended Judgment at 2 

(D. Kan. July 26, 2016). The injunction forbids the Kansas defendants and their 

successors from enforcing or applying any aspect of Kansas law that treats same-sex 

married couples differently than opposite-sex married couples. After entry of this 

final judgment, we ordered WBC and the Unruhs to show cause why their appeals 

should not be dismissed on jurisdictional grounds as moot. The Unruhs did not 

respond. 

Federal court jurisdiction is limited to the adjudication of live cases and 

controversies. Abdulhaseeb v. Calbone, 600 F.3d 1301, 1311 (10th Cir. 2010). 

An appeal is moot if there exists no present controversy as to which effective relief 

can be granted. Id. (“When it becomes impossible for a court to grant effective 

relief, a live controversy ceases to exist, and the case becomes moot.” (citation and 

quotation marks omitted)). 

We have reviewed WBC’s response and conclude its appeals are moot because 

there is no longer any pending litigation in the district court in which it can intervene. 

W. Coast Seafood Processors Ass’n v. Nat. Res. Def. Council, Inc., 643 F.3d 701, 704 

(9th Cir. 2011) (dismissing would-be intervenor’s appeal as moot after final 

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judgment was entered in the underlying case and the litigants did not appeal because 

the court “cannot grant [the appellant] any effective relief . . . [s]ince there is no 

longer any action in which appellants can intervene.” (internal quotation marks 

omitted)). 

The appeals by WBC and the Unruhs are dismissed as moot. 

Entered for the Court 

Gregory A. Phillips 

Circuit Judge 

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