MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin court threw out a challenge to the state’s marriage amendment Friday, ruling that the amendment does not violate state law. Alliance Defense Fund attorneys had filed a friend-of-the-court brief arguing for the constitutionality of the amendment.
“The government should promote and encourage strong families. The Wisconsin marriage amendment does that. Thankfully, political special interests were not allowed to trump the voice of the people of Wisconsin and the interests of families,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Austin R. Nimocks.
After 59 percent of Wisconsin voters approved the state’s marriage amendment in November 2006, a state resident who didn’t like the amendment filed suit against the governor on July 31, 2007, challenging its constitutionality.
ADF attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of the Wisconsin Family Council on March 19, arguing that the amendment dealt with only one subject--preserving and protecting the institution of marriage--and therefore did not violate the procedural requirements for enacting a state constitutional provision (
www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4438). The brief was the second of two that ADF attorneys filed in the case.
Dane County Circuit Judge Richard G. Niess announced his ruling at a hearing Friday and said that the amendment’s purpose was “the preservation of the unique and historical status of marriage.” The judge ruled that the amendment did not violate state law.
“Citizens are hurt when judges take away their vote,” said ADF Litigation Counsel Jim Campbell. “Fortunately, Judge Niess correctly interpreted the law and upheld the voters’ choice to protect marriage in Wisconsin.”
A copy of the friend-of-the-court brief filed March 19 with the Dane County Circuit Court in
McConkey v. Doyle is available at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/DoyleAmicusBrief.pdf.
ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.
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