MADISON, Wis. — Attorneys from the Alliance Defense Fund and Wisconsin Family Council filed a friend-of-the-court brief in defense of marriage Friday, arguing that a man who filed a lawsuit to halt enforcement of the state’s marriage amendment does not have grounds to sue.
"The people of Wisconsin have already spoken: Nearly 60 percent of residents voted to preserve marriage in the state last year," said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Austin R. Nimocks. "This individual, who has not been legally harmed by the amendment, is not in a position to trump what the people believe is in the best interest of families and children."
On Nov. 7, 2006, 59 percent of Wisconsin voters voted in support of the marriage amendment. On July 31, Wisconsin resident Bill McConkey filed a lawsuit against Gov. Jim Doyle and Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, challenging the constitutionality of the amendment and requesting that the court issue an injunction to prevent its enforcement.
"Wisconsin’s marriage amendment poses no constitutional issues," said Nimocks. "Wisconsin laws and families are strengthened by the presence of its marriage amendment. In light of that fact, we believe the court should dismiss the case."
A copy of the friend-of-the-court brief filed in Dane County Circuit Court by ADF and the Wisconsin Family Council in
McConkey v. Doyle is available at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/DoyleAmicus.pdf.
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
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