SAN FRANCISCO — Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund submitted documents to the California Supreme Court Tuesday on the heels of the proposed state marriage amendment’s qualification for the November ballot. The documents ask the court to take official notice that the amendment’s inclusion on the ballot is no longer uncertain because of the California secretary of state’s certification of the citizen initiative.
“The qualification of the amendment demonstrates that the people of California believe marriage should be the union of one man and one woman. It was the largest grassroots volunteer signature gathering effort in the state’s history. We hope the court will take note of the secretary of state’s certification when considering our request that the court postpone implementation of its decision on marriage,” said ADF Senior Counsel Glen Lavy, who argued before the court March 4.
“The people of California have a constitutional right to vote on marriage, and we trust the high court will respect the democratic process. The possibility of significant and unnecessary legal and social problems can be avoided by waiting to see what the California people desire when it comes to the meaning of marriage,” Lavy said.
ADF attorneys filed a petition with the court May 22 on behalf of the Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund asking the justices to delay implementation of their May 15 marriage decision until the results of the November election are known (www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4528). Opponents of the petition had argued that inclusion of the amendment on the ballot was “speculation.” The request for notice filed with the court Tuesday points out the invalidity of that argument.
A copy of the request for notice submitted to the California Supreme Court in the consolidated marriage cases named In re: Marriage Cases, which includes the lawsuit Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund v. City and County of San Francisco, is available at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/Prop22request.pdf.
The text of the proposed constitutional amendment is available at www.protectmarriage.com/read.php.
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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