Paul Gillpatrick and Niccole Wetherell are both incarcerated in Nebraska correctional facilities. The ACLU of Nebraska and cooperating attorney Michael Gooch are suing the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services over their enforcement of a Nebraska prison policy which places an undue burden on their fundamental Constitutional right to marry.
The Plaintiffs met through a mutual friend and have been engaged for over two years. In his letter to the ACLU, Gillpatrick says he has known Wetherell since 1998 and that "she makes me laugh, she brings smiles to my face every day and I want to marry her." They have each filled out the appropriate marriage intention forms and submitted them to the Religious Coordinator at their respective facilities. The Department of Correctional Services is unwilling to place the couple in the same room or to use modern technology to make other arrangements to allow the ceremony to go forward.
